The Avenging Swordsman
by Vendicor
Summary: Lives are not meant to be thrown away on a whim. In this death game we are trapped in, Kayaba has made it so that all those 10,000 lives can be taken away in the the blink of an eye. My name is Vendicar and I will not be one of them... for I fight the living, in the name of the dead. (Image does not belong to me.)
1. 1 It Begins

Almost. Almost there. This is going to be something else entirely. Calmly I sit here on my bed waiting for the time to strike 1:00. The biggest game of the century, in my opinion at least, is going to go live in just a few minutes and I can't wait to finally be a part of it.

What am I talking about you may ask? Well let me break it down to you. A smart, brilliant man going by the name of Akihiko Kayaba had a dream long ago of creating a truly mesmerizing and jaw dropping game and gaming system that would revolutionize and possibly make thousands upon thousands of people lay in their beds like vegetables while their minds go through a battlefield fighting and combat against players and monsters alike.

… I'm probably getting too into this. In just a few minutes one of the biggest virtual reality games is going to go live where thousands of players will have their minds transported to and engage in a hell of adventure in the video game world of Sword Art Online. Using the NerveGear system to make full and absolute use of what the game has to offer, my giddiness for what experiences I may go through in this is spanning new heights. On top of that, I can't help but feel absolutely grateful for this experience in of itself because the game I'm going to be devoting plenty of time to is in short limited supply.

10,000 to be exact. Only 10,000 people so far are able to play the game at launch and whether they're going to make anymore in the future, I don't know, nor do I care because I already have my copy. Totally worth camping out, not literally mind you although some people in the line did go the extra mile, in order to get my copy of this game. I wasn't able to get the chance to take part in the beta for the game and I kicked myself for it. Not wanting to miss out I went eaaarrrrrrrrrly to make sure I got a copy. The fruits of my labor paid off as I've already got everything set up. After managing to get my own NerveGear a few days ago, I went ahead and got all the startup sequences, calibrations and hardware ready to go on a moments notice. Even though at the time it was still going to be days before I could get into SAO, I still wanted to make sure everything was good to go. A few hours ago I checked it again to make double sure its all good. At this point I don't want to spend more than a second than I should recalibrating when I could be using it to play already.

That's why I already ate, told my parents what to expect before they left to a meeting, and am now sitting here waiting for the clock to strike 1:00. Right now, it's 12:59 on my phone before I put it on my bedside table and sit on my bed. With the time just about, the NerveGear goes on my head before I lay on my bed. _'This is it. Moment of truth.'_ I focus my eyes on the corner of the screen at the clock on my display and stare at the clock.

"…" The time still reads 12:59, so I continue to stare and wait.

*12:59… 12:59… 12:59… 1:00*

"Link Start!"

With the command uttered, my vision blackens for a second before the world of virtual reality starts to take its shape in my mind. I quickly go through the registration system and start setting everything up. Not too long in I find the character registration screen and begin setting up my avatar. _'Alright, how should I do this? This isn't like other games where I simply just choose the default character basically. This is my avatar character. The one I will be using, controlling and leveling up for the foreseeable future. I will be through his eyes, not through simply a screen. Take this seriously.'_ My mental conversation over, I go ahead and take an internal breather before I start setting up. _'Let's see… just a little higher than my normal build, bulkier too because I don't exercise for crap and I hate myself for that. Alright, got myself set up, starting weapon chosen, name… Vendicar. Now nothing left to do but get this show on the road.'_ Without further ado, I'm ready.

My vision comes into focus and I take stock of the area around me. Stone roadworks mixed with buildings and greenery is what I see around me. "Sword Art Online…" I mutter the name and look down at myself. A light blue undershirt with a leather vest and black pants with brown boots makes up my attire. As I look around at the spawning players, its pretty much the standard gear for everyone besides the color so no one's carrying anything worthwhile at the moment. "Time to get started."

Cheers go out across the entire square and the rest of the city as pretty much everyone who's logged on are tasting virtual reality for probably the first time, as am I. Soon enough everyone begins dispersing and taking in the sights of this beautiful city and its world. NPC shopkeepers line the various streets and stores, ready to start selling to us players right off the bat. Unfortunately we aren't really rolling in the cash, or Col more specifically, right now so their isn't much a lot of people can buy. Right now we all are simply browsing the shops and making a wish list of sorts on what we may try to get later on. I'm not really picky on stuff like that as my philosophy kind of goes along the lines of I won't buy a new weapon because chances are I'll get something else even better later on that'll make what I just bought obsolete. Only when I find something that truly and massively boosts my power will I go ahead and buy it. Otherwise, the loot drop is what I'll use when the opportunity persists.

My thoughts on where to start shift as someone runs past me and turns down an alleyway. "Hm?" I question at the quick speed he takes to going wherever he's going but another person runs past me following the same route. "Huh? What's going on?" I mutter under my breath. No one else seems to be paying any attention to them so I quietly increase my speed before stopping in front of the entrance to the alleyway. I carefully peak around until I spot the two stopped about halfway down the alleyway having a conversation. I can't exactly get close enough to hear them without being spotted so I hang back and opt to tail them instead, which begins to lead us out of the city. I'm usually a solo player and don't have many friends myself so I feel like it'd be a little weird to just outright talk to them. _'Maybe I can learn a thing or two from them.'_ Unlike what the traditional commonsense aspect there is with RPG's, I have a feeling I'm still green as can be in this place.

* * *

"Argh! Uoh!"

Although not as green as that guy. We find ourselves in the fields around the Town of Beginnings, as our spawn location is called, and on a small hilly area. The dark haired blue shirt wearing guy watches as the red head bandana wearer gets his ass handed to him by a boar and thrown to the ground, cradling his manbits as he does. "Oooh… hurts in the nuts… kill me now…" I can hear him complain.

"Oh, come on, seriously? You can't feel any pain."

"Huh? Oh yeah, you're right. Sorry, habit." I roll my eyes at his actions. After following them for awhile and seeing the tips that blue was giving red, I decided to simply wait behind a bush and see where this goes. I'm not really the best at first impressions.

"Remember what I said? The first move is the most important." Blue shirt who's pretty much the teacher says.

"Yeah, that's easy for you to say. But he won't stand still!" Red complains as he stares at the boar that took him down, who isn't really paying attention to him anymore.

The teach decides to show him something as he reaches down to the pickup a pebble and stares at the boar. "If you do your initial motion right, and activate a sword skill at the right time…" He begins to curl his arm back and next thing I know, he's throwing the pebble like it's a freakin' bullet. 'Holy…' The makeshift projectile hits the backside of the boar and leaves a red mark. "The system pretty much guarantees you'll always hit your target." By this point, the boars pretty ticked at the jab and turns toward them.

"Initial motion?"

"Here's an easier way to look at it." Blue easily dodges the boars attacks before blocking and holding the monster in position as he continues to explain. "Right after you start your move, wait for a little bit.  
When you feel the skill start to activate, drive it home!" He instructs the other guy on what to do, and in turn me as well.

"Drive it home?" Once he's gotten what's said, the beginner readies himself as his blade starts to glow red. Once he sees his friend prepared, he pushes the boar back and kicks it away from him, shifting the boars attention to the other guy he knocked down earlier. I watch as he doesn't move and continues to ready his blade for an attack with the color starting to get redder. Once he's ready, quickly he drives himself forward, activating his sword skill and slashing the boar along its body in one quick strike. "Hoho! Yeeeeeeaah!" At having defeated his very first opponent, he lets out a happy victory cry at his accomplishment.

"Congratulations." They high five each other before the teacher sheathes his sword. "That was nice. But that boar's about as weak as slimes in other games are." He promptly crushes the guys spirit.

"Holy crap! You got to be kidding. I thought that thing was a mid-level boss." _'Seriously? A mid-level boss now? C'mon man.'_

"Yeah, as if." The teach says as further away some more boars spawn in. I'll admit the combat system looks interesting to say the least and while it may take some getting used to, this will definitely make his an enjoyable experience. "What about you?! You wanna give it a try?!" My thoughts are completely thrown for a loop as the guy is staring right at me. My eyes widen like a deers in headlights.

"Huh? What?" I dumbly say at the question directed at me as I stand from my spot behind the bushes.

"Wha-?! Whoa! When did you get here?! I didn't even see that guy." The red-haired says the last part to his friend.

' _Well, I'm caught. Better go ahead and get to greeting. It'd kind of be a horrible first impression if I just bailed.'_ I step out from behind the bush and calmly walk up to them, hands up in a non-threatening gesture. "Alright, you caught me. How'd you know?" I ask.

"I saw you as we left the safe zone. You weren't as stealthy as you thought." My shoulders slump at the jab but not uncalled for.

' _Yeah, definitely different from other games.'_ I shrug at the thought before I stop in front of them. "Yeah sorry. Like your friend there, I'm kind of new to this game as well. Wasn't lucky enough to be a part of the beta… but from what I can tell it looks like you were. Am I wrong?" I ask him.

"Nope. You got it. Beta tester right here." He points his thumb to himself with a smirk. "Since you probably heard me giving Klein here some tips and advice, are you ready to put it to test?" He gestures to the boars that start making their way towards us.

I smile at the opportunity and walk past them. "Gladly. Oh right, my name is Vendicar by the way." I quickly give them my name.

"Kirito." The teacher finally gives me his name as we shake hands.

"Hey, I'm Klein. Nice to meet you." Klein too introduces himself as we shake hands as well.

"Likewise." Once the greetings are out of the way, I turn back to the boars.

"What's your weapon by the way?" Kirito asks me from behind.

"Well, let me show you." I pull up my menu and equip my chosen starting weapon.

A big two-handed longsword appears on my back and I can feel its weight as soon as it materializes on me. Reaching behind me I pull it off with one hand before I need to hold it with both hands. While Kirito sports a one-handed sword and Klein a dagger, my weapon is heavier than the two so its slower but can deal out a lot more damage and over a wider arc if necessary. Because it also requires two hands to wield it, unlike the two next to me I can't equip a proper shield to block. With the size and width of the blade, I can still use it to block and defend if need be, just not as effectively as a shield but the option is still there.

"A two-handed longsword. Interesting choice. But just remember that it's not as fast as most other weapons." Kirito comments. Not surprised by how he thinks. Usually if a weapon is two-handed then that means you can dish out a lot of damage when you hit, but your still slower.

"I know." I reply and step forward to meet the boards. Their health indicators appear over them and the system registers my combat with them. "I'm going to see just what type of build I can make for myself with this." Like how Klein readied himself for his attack, I get ready as well. Holding the swords handle with my right hand, I extend and curl my arm back towards me, allowing the blade to rest on my arm aimed at my enemies. As soon as one of the boars starts charging me, my blade begins to glow blue as the sword skill gets ready to activate. As the system activates my grip tightens on the handle and my feet firmly straighten and get ready for my initial push. I don't flinch as the boar gets closer and closer to me until finally… "Heyaaaa!" With a loud cry, I thrust once the sword skill is ready to activate. In a flash, I drive my blade forward at speeds I would never have been capable of back in the real world. I am past the boar with both hands on the handle of my sword. _'Wow.'_ Is all I can think on the feeling of activating my first sword skill and killing my first enemy. The boar behind me breaks into a million virtual polygons. I soon straighten up and relax as I turn around to see just where my opponent was and see the score results of my exp and col gain. Small but still feels good. "Nice."

"Watch out!" Klein warns me loudly.

I quickly move to the side from the warning just as the second boar charges me while I was distracted. In that time, he misses me while at the exact same time my sword is pulled up and comes in an overhead slash. With a loud grunt, I bring my sword down as hard as I can right on the defenseless boars back. The force and strength of the attack easily cuts through its body and sends my weapon into the ground by a couple inches. Like with most attacks, their too is a red mark line that shows on the middle of the boars body where I hit and ran the blade straight through. Next, his body splits apart for only a second before it too explodes into polygons and I am greeted with my earnings. "Awesome."

* * *

Several hours pass after my introduction to my new friends. We spent the whole time just going around, exploring and killing whatever enemies we find in the immediate area. Mostly low level boars and wolves but it was still amazing to do no matter what. The whole time was exhilarating and badass on so many levels. Even though it's a full dive and my bodies really in the real world, actually moving around and slashing down our enemies is pretty cool. While my attacks are strong, I'm not as fast as I would prefer for such a big weapon. _'Should work on my agility when I get the chance.'_ Once we've thoroughly exhausted ourselves, we stop and rest as we watch the sunset with Kirito standing, me crouching and Klein sitting down relaxed.

"When I look around, I can't believe it. We're inside a game, bros. Whoever made it is a genius. This thing's amazing. Makes me glad I was born when I was, you know." Klein voices his amazement over the system and world we are in right now.

"Gotta agree with you there." I comment. Chances are this game is going to be groundbreaking should it become a success and so far, it seems successful. This is pretty surreal.

"It's not that big a deal." Kirito isn't so impressed. Probably because he played the beta before so he was able to experience all this far longer than us.

"Cut us some slack, it's our first full dive!"

"You've never used the NerveGear before today, huh? This is your first time ever?" He asks us and we nod.

"Uh-huh. As soon as I got the money together, I rushed out and bought all the hardware to play SAO. Stood in line and scored one of the ten thousand hard copies. Guess you could say I was pretty lucky. Although, you sir, were ten times as lucky getting to beta-test it." Klein compliments Kirito. Chances are I may have been able to be a part of the beta test if I had the NerveGear in the first place but I didn't. Not really many reasons before for me to get one but now, I'm glad I did.

"Hm?" Menawhile Kirito is curious about what Klein means.

"Dude, only a thousand people got the chance!"

"Yeah, I guess I was lucky."

They talk some more of how Kirito did during the beta and his thoughts on SAO now while I simply listen.

"And even though it's a virtual world, I feel more alive in here than I ever did in the real one." He says to us as he examines his sword and the power we can exhibit with our equipment and I don't blame him. The way how we fought earlier ago was breathtaking. I no doubt see plenty of moments in the future where I will be binge playing this game. "Anyway, you want to go do some more hunting?" I smile at the idea and stand but Klein beats me to answering first.

"Oh, You know it! But the thing is…"

*Rrrrrrrr*

His somach growls. "I'm really hungry. I have to log out."

"Too bad the food you eat here only satisfies your hunger virtually."

"That's true. If you could eat in here and satisfy yourself in the real life at the same time, then I'm sure a lot of people wouldn't want to leave." I say. To be honest, if that could happen then I would be sorely tempted to do the same. I'm not really a big deal back in the real world. Don't have many friends but in here… I can be so much more with so many people.

"Yeah, for reals. That's why I ordered a pizza for 5:30."

' _Oh pizza. Now I feel like one for later.'_ I let out a long whistle. "Nice."

"Wow, you're so prepared." Kirito compliments him and I share the sentiment on his thinking for the future.

"You know it! Besides, the game can wait until I get my pizza on."

"I guess…" Kirito for whatever looks just a little downtrodden at the idea.

This doesn't go unnoticed by Klein though as he looks a little bad at leaving basically. "Hey, I was going to go meet up with some people I know from another game. I don't know what you're up to after this, so, if, uh, you know, if you two want, you guys can friend them and hang with us." Klein offers to us. Kirito visibly doesn't look as comfortable with the idea while I don't really care. Like I said before I don't have a whole lot of friends so I primarily solo whatever I play. In this game though, I think I might have to get past that. Seeing Kirito's expression, Klein speaks some more. "No, it's cool if you don't want to, no pressure. I can always introduce you to them another time or something."

"Yeah, sorry. Thanks, anyway." Kirito still looks a little down for some reason but somewhat better.

"No way! I should be doing all the thanking!" Klein says and walks closer to Kirito. "Hey, one of these days, I promise I'll pay you back for all your help. Virtually, that is!" He adds with a smile.

Kirito looks much better at the idea and returns the smile. "Yeah, right."

"Thanks for everything, man, really. Guess I'll see you two around, then."

"If there's anything else you want to know, message me." Kirito offers.

"And if you ever need another person to hang, the same to me." I do the same.

"Oh, sweet! I'll do that." With the agreement settled, they shake hands before Klein shakes my hand as well before basically waving bye to us.

Kirito looks back at the sunset just as Klein is about to leave. "So," I pat his back, making him look at me as I give him a smile. "Got any other tricks or secrets you can show me? I'm not going anytime soon, if you want." I add the last part in case he doesn't actually want to be with anyone and wants to do his own thing. He actually smiles at that.

"Huh? Where'd the log out button go?" Before he answers though, the fact Klein is still here makes us a little confused. His question even more so.

"It should be there." Kirito states as we both walk up to the confused player.

"…Nope, it's not there." After a moment of looking Klein still declines it's there.

"That can't be right." I state as I swipe open my menu.

"It should be at the bottom of the main menu." To demonstrate, Kirito opens up his own menu. "Huh?" And just like with Klein, he and I see we too are both devoid of a logout button.

"See, not there."

"That's… weird." I comment after Klein.

"You're right, it's not."

"Oh well. Today's, what, the first day out of beta? Bound to be some bugs! I bet the server people are freaking out right now!" Klein tries to make light of the situation and thinks we'll eventually have the issue sorted out but I feel like this isn't a simple fix. Kirito however nudges my arm, making me look at him.

"You will, too." He says and gestures to the clock. Seeing the time, I have to keep myself from cracking a grin.

"Huh?"

"Dude, check out the time." I tell Klein to do.

He looks confused at first but the second he does, that's when he freaks out. "Oh my god! My teriyaki mayo pizza and ginger ale!" He makes a loud and very worried display of his possible loss of food. Pretty sure the delivery guy won't leave it at the door for him so that sucks.

"Why don't you just contact the game master?" Kirito asks him.

"Huh?" He snaps out of his yelling and rights himself back up. "Yeah, I did that, but nothing's happening. He's not picking up. Do you know if there's another way to log out of this thing?"

"Hmmm…" We look at him as he thinks but comes up empty on why this is happening. "No. Whenever a player wants to log out of SAO, the only way they can do it is by going through the menu."

"That seems like a pretty big flaw if that's that only way we can get out." I comment on how worrisome this is turning out to be.

"That can't be right! There's got to be some other way out. Return! Log out! Escape!" While I appreciate the effort, its pretty futile of Klein to do… whatever moves he was doing in order to leave.

"Told you so. And there was no emergency log out in the manual, either." Kirito says.

"I'm getting really worried about this." I mutter at how few and few our options are becoming with each passing second. _'Not even a failsafe for us players to get out without the log out button.'_

"No way, you're kidding… I know, I'll just rip the NerveGear off my head!" Klein proceeds to try to take off the helmet in the world from in here but from what I remember in my studies on the device, it's not going to work.

"Sorry Klein. But it doesn't work like that." I burst his bubble.

"Yeah, don't bother. Once you're hooked in, you can't move your body in the real world anymore. The NerveGear intercepts all the commands you give from inside the game, using an interface built into the rig." Kirito explains the more specifics of why his plan won't work. While it is a pretty cool and interesting concept, its fault is starting to become apparent right now.

"Seriously?" Obviously, Klein is pretty bummed about it. I am too. "So now we got to wait until someone gets around to fixing the bug?!"

"That, or until someone in the real world comes along and takes the NerveGear off us. That's it."

"I live alone. You?" Klein tells us his predicament a little sadly before asking us.

"My parents went to some business meeting before I got on. Don't know when they're going to come home." I say what my situation is at home. My parents and I usually keep to ourselves so that's why I don't really know exactly what they'll be doing, or when they'll be back.

"I got a mom and a sister. And I'm pretty sure they'll notice by dinner time and come—" Kirito begins to explain what his living situation is but an enthusiastic Klein almost knocks me down as he grabs onto the beta-testers shoulders.

"Y-You got a sister? How old's she? What's she like?" Gone is his worried expression of the log out situation and now is apparently focused on Kirito's sister.

"Huh? She's into sports, and hates games. And she's totally not your type, man. She wouldn't date a gamer if he was the last type—"

"Who cares?! I want to—"

*SMACK*

"Ahh! Ohh! Aahh! Ohhh…! Oh, right. Getting kicks in the balls doesn't hurt." While Klein was getting a little too close for comfort, Kirito proceeded to knee him in the nuts. Of course it doesn't actually hurt but the sentiment gets the point across for him to pull back on getting to know his sister.

"Nice." I say to Kirito and hold out my fist to him.

"Thanks." He fist bumps me before getting a serious expression on his face. "But still, get serious. Don't you think this is weird?

"Yeah, totally. But it's just a bug." Klein still thinks its simply an error in the code and if it is, it seems like a pretty big bug that'll no doubt hurt the games reputation.

"This isn't just a bug. If we can't log out, it's going to cause some serious problems for the game."

"Not to mention how many people are going to be incredibly angry at the idea that logging out is the only way a player inside the game can get out. Basically, this means we're trapped." I explain it a little differently, one that hopefully gets the point across.

"Yeah, I guess you're right."

"I wonder if the developers even know what's happening, 'cause they could just shut down the server and log everyone out. But why haven't they made an announcement?" Kirito thinks. It's true. Already its been several hours since its launch and just maybe some people have already tried to log out so surely someone has already tried to contact and made this little issue known to the developers.

"Uh… Hmm…" We begin to brainstorm on why that is.

*Gooonng… Gooonng*

But the sound of a bell ringing begins to go off in the distance, getting our attention because usually whenever a bell goes off it means something. And this one is pretty loud since we can hear it clear as day all the way from out of town.

"I have… a very bad—"

A bright light consumes me before I can finish speaking.

* * *

I blink my eyes clear of the aftereffects of the bright light that hit me. "Huh? Wait, what?" I look around and can hear other sounds around me. A quick check shows dozens of other players begin to be teleported into the open plaza square in the middle of the Town Of Beginnings along with my friends.

"Someone forced a teleport." Kirito informs us of what happened and from the looks of how many people that are appearing, it looks like nearly every single player in the game is here. _'But why?'_

"Look, up there!" A random players exclamation over the voices of many other confused people gets my attention as I and my friends look to the sky to see something odd.

"Now what?" Kirito asks out loud and I want to know as well. All we see is a simple red flashing rectangular hexagon in the middle of the sky with 'warning' on it. However it becomes that much more foreboding and scary as thousands more of them begin popping up all over the sky, completely covering the sky in a redish hue filled with words of 'warning' and 'system announcement'. Things take a turn for even more freaky as what almost looks like blood in this light begins to drip down and pool in the middle of the air from between the warnings.

"What the hell is that thing?" Klein asks what's all on our minds as the blob thing starts sparking electricity as it begins to take some kind of form. Soon a figure begins to take shape until we see someone massive floating in mid-air wearing a red robe with gold trimmings.

"Whoa." I mutter at how freaky this is looking.

"Is that a game master?"

"Why doesn't he have a face? Is this an event?"

Several people begin voicing their questions and concerns as to what's going on or who this person is above us. From what I can tell, I think we're about to find out.

"Attention, players. I welcome you to my world." The figure states to us all.

"What's he mean by that?" Kirito asks.

"My name is Akihiko Kayaba. And as of this moment, I am in control of this world."

"Uh!" I hear Kirito gasp next to me at the news and while I am not audible in my surprise, I am without a doubt, surprised as well. _'Kayaba… THE Kayaba who created this place… but what's he…?'_ I begin to ask in my head the why's of this whole situation but he continues speaking.

"I'm sure most of you have already noticed an item missing from your main menus… the log out button. Let me assure you, this is not a defect in the game. I repeat, this is not a defect. This is how 'Sword Art Online' was designed to be." With a straightforward statement, he gives us the answer to a very important question we were just trying to figure out only a few moments ago, and the answer was not what we wanted to hear.

"He's kidding, right?" Klein asks but none of us answer as every eye continues to stare at Kayaba.

"You cannot log yourselves out of SAO, and no one from the outside will be able to shut down or remove the NerveGear from your head. If anyone attempts to do so, a transmitter inside the NerveGear will discharge a microwave signal into your skull, destroying your brain and ending your life."

' _Ending… our lives?! What?!'_ My face begins to take on a form of slight horror at this news and from the look of Kirito to my side, he too has the same worries I am feeling. Others around us aren't as believing of the news though as they think it's a ploy, even Klein.

"Are you listening to this crap? He's got to be nuts, right? Right, Kirito, Vendicar?

"Except he's not." I answer as I continue to stare at the figure. While it does seem like something that shouldn't be possible or feasible to us, just something about how… confident with an underlying feel of possibly happiness he seems to have about him just makes it seem that much more believable. I soon turn to my friend. "Right?"

"Yeah." Kirito backs me on why this isn't a joke. "The transmitter's signals in the headgear work just like microwaves. If the safety's disabled, it could fry your brain."

"Couldn't someone cut the power or…?" Klein asks but it's not that simple.

"That won't work. The NerveGear's got an internal battery." Kirito answers.

"Gah! This is crazy! It's totally crazy!"

"Hold it. He's speaking." I quiet Klein down before we focus our attention back on Kayaba.

"Despite my warning, the families and friends of some of the players have attempted removing the NerveGear, an unfortunate decision, to say the least. As a result, the game now has two hundred thirteen less players than when it began. They've been deleted from both Aincrad and the real world."

"Two hundred thirteen?" Kirito repeats the death toll while all of us stare at him in horror.

"Dead… no." I mutter in disbelief. _'They didn't even have a chance. They were just snuffed out.'_ As much as I want this to be fake, to be some cruel joke that isn't true at all, my instincts are telling me… _'No… it's not.'_

"No way... I don't believe it!"

Suddenly several windows and screens begin popping up all around Kayaba, each one showing a different news story with text what's going on with us. "As you can see, international media outlets have round-the-clock coverage of everything, including the deaths. At this point, it's safe to assume the likelihood of a NerveGear being removed is minimal at best. I hope this brings you a little comfort as you try to clear the game." _'It doesn't you son of a—'_ "It's important to remember the following: There is no longer any way to revive someone within the game. If your HP drops to zero, your avatar will be deleted from the system... forever. And the NerveGear will simultaneously destroy your brain." Kirito lets out a gasp of the evidential final nails in our coffins. When we were grinding out in the field earlier, there were a couple times where our HP's dropped pretty low for our comforts. Now, we only realize that we weren't just fighting for fun… now we're fighting for our very lives. "There is only one way for a player to escape now… you must clear the game. Right now, you're gathered on Floor One, the lowest level of Aincrad." Kayaba speaks as he shows us a model map of the many floors we will have to go through till we make it to the final floor. "If you can get through the dungeon and defeat the boss, you may advance to the next floor. Defeat the boss on Floor 100, and you will clear the game."

"We can't clear all 100 floors… That's freaking impossible… even the beta testers never made it that high!" Klein is in disbelief at the idea of clearing all 100 floors… but I think we don't have a choice no matter how hopeless it seems.

"Last but not least, I've placed a little present in the item storage of every player. Please have a look." With not much else we can do right now, we comply and open our inventories. True to what he said, there is a mirror in our inventories that wasn't there before.

"A mirror?" Kirito is just as confused as I as we pull the items out. The item materializes and falls into my hand. There's nothing about it that calls for our immediate attention to it. All in all its just a simple mirror.

"Hey, Kirito. Got any ideas what this means?" I ask him without taking my eyes off my reflection.

"I don't—"

"Ah! Ahhhh!"

"Klein!" Kirito and I both yell out our friend's name as a bright light consumes his entire form. Next other people begin to shine brightly just the same.

"Ugh!" So does Kirito.

"Kirito!" I yell his name just before I too am consumed in the light.

The light only lasts for a few seconds but it completely blinded me of everything around me as well as disorienting. Soon it subsides and I can finally see again. I bring my hands down from having instinctively brought them up to shield me and look. A quick check of myself shows that I'm still in one piece, though I don't feel as tall as I was before for some reason.

"Kirito, Vendicar, you guys okay?" Klein asks us.

"Yeah."

"I'm good." Kirito and I answer but as I look at the both of them, I don't recognize the people next to me.

"Wait… Who are you?"

"I'm me. Who are you?" The red head with a bandana looks at me but is still confused. "And who are you?"

"What do you…?" I begin to ask but as I do, my eyes glance at the mirror in my hand. Bringing it up to my face, I see why they are confused when they look at me. My own real-life face is staring right back at me. My hair is short and black with the front parted to left and the rest of it combed and matted against my head as my blue eyes stare into each other. "No way."

"Is that you, Kirito?

"Is that you, Klein?"

"Guys!" I raise my voice just a little to get their attention. Once they look at me, I finally tear my vision away from the reflection of my own face before looking what I think is my friends. Klein still had red hair but now that I see it, the cloth on his head kind of reminds me of him. Kirito though, definitely looks different, especially his hair cut. Question is, "What happened?"

"Yeah, how?" Klein asks as well on how we suddenly look like out real-world selves.

"The scan." Kirito quickly surmises how we all suddenly look like our real bodies. "There's a high-density signal device inside the NerveGear rig. It can see what my face looks like, but how's it know my height and body type?" He asks but Kleins got the answer there.

"When you first put the NerveGear on, it had to do this… calibration thing. It asked you to touch your body all over like this, remember?" He demonstrates by patting his shoulders down and such. Now that I think about it, I do remember having to do that odd ritual of sorts when calibrating myself for the NerveGears use. I didn't think much of it at first but now… now I see it.

"Oh, yeah, you're right. That's where it got our physical data!"

"Geez it was just supposed to be a calibration. I didn't know it was preparing us for this!" I mutter angrily after Kirito gets it.

"But, this is… What's the point?! Why would anyone do this to us?!" Klein begins to angrily ask.

"I think he's about to tell us." Kirito points to Kayaba, refocusing everyone's attention again.

"Right now, you are probably wondering why. Why would Akihiko Kayaba, developer of Sword Art Online and NerveGear, do this?" _'Million-dollar question right there.'_ I think bitterly before he continues. "Ultimately, my goal was a simple one. The reason I created Sword Art Online was to control the fate of a world of my design."

"Control…" I mutter confused before realization begins to set in for me. "He wanted to become a god… in a world of his own design and choosing." I say with venom laced on my face.

"Kayaba…" Kirito mutters angrily and I share the feeling.

"As you can see, I have achieved my goal. This marks the end of the tutorial and the official launch of Sword Art Online. Players, I wish you the best of luck." As soon as he finishes talking, his robed form begins to fall apart and disappear altogether. Once he does. The red warning signs disappear and the dusk sunlight of Aincrad's world shines through.

Too bad its bittersweet from all the stunned horrified expressions of everyone in the entire town square. For what feels like forever we all stare at where Kayaba just was only seconds ago as he just declared what his intentions were in this world we are now trapped in. For whatever reason, he decided he wasn't contempt to simply live in the real world and wanted something more. Something much more… real that he can make. And nothing gets that much more real than the threat of death… just like in real life. Until we can get out of this place and clear all 100 floors, this place is going to be our lives from here on out. _'This isn't what I signed up for. This isn't what any of us wanted. And now because of you… we're now forced into something that you want and none of us do.'_ My thoughts begin to get darker as everything sets in.

"Noooo!" One scream. That's all it takes. That snaps everyone out of their stupefied forms and all hell begins to break loose. Other people begin screaming, crying out, begging to be let out and pushing shoving each other out of the way. While everyone begins to panic on all levels, I am both angry and scared but not panicky. _'Screaming, cursing, lashing out won't solve anything for me right now. Don't freak out.'_ I mentally keep myself as focused as I can on the situation. I'm a gamer, clear and simple. Button mashing never helped me in the past when I got angry and with my life on the line I can't ever afford to.

"Klein. Vendicar. Come on." Thankfully, Kirito is on top of things a lot quicker than I am as he grabs both of our hands and pulls us away from the panic induced crowd. While Klein is pulled along a lot more than me, I quickly get what he's doing and follow along on my own accord.

* * *

Not long later does Kirito takes us far away from the crowds until we stop in an alley. "Okay, listen. I'm heading out right now for the next village. I want you both to come with me." He quickly requests of us.

"Huh?" Klein mutters while I silently watch and listen to him.

"If what he said is true, and I think it is, the only way we're gonna survive in here is by making ourselves as strong as possible. In an MMORPG, the money you can earn, the EXP, once the game starts up, there's only so much of that stuff to go around." He tells us as he pulls up a map of the area. "Look, the fields around the Town Of Beginnings are gonna be hunted clean soon. If we head to the next village now, we'll have an easier time collecting cash and points. Don't worry, I know all the paths and places we should avoid. Even if I'm level one, I can get there easy." Seeing as how we're going to be stuck here, I can't really express how lucky and grateful I am at having an expert here with me to show me the ropes and back me up. While I show no signs of declining, Klein isn't.

"Well, thanks, but… you know those friends of mine I was telling you about… we stood in line for a whole night to buy this, and… They're back at the Plaza, somewhere… and I can't leave 'em." He explains why he can't go. Unlike me, he still has people to depend on stuck in that panicked crowd back in the plaza and he's a good guy for wanting to stick by them. "Sorry." He apologizes at the in-thought Kirito. No doubt trying to consider and plan what this means for us. "Can't ask a guy I just met to risk his life for a bunch of strangers, can I?" Thankfully being the good guy he is, he does what he can to ease the beta-tester of his worries. "So, don't worry about me. Get your ass to the next village. I'll be fine! Last game I played, I ran a guild, so I'm more than prepared. And with all the stuff you taught me, I'll get by, no sweat!" He confidently and assuredly reassures us.

"Okay. If that's what you want, I'll get going. But if you're in a jam, message me, okay?" Kirito offers him.

"Sure." He nods before looking at me. "Good meeting Vendicar. Good luck out there."

I smirk back at him and give him thumbs up. "Same to you."

"We'll be seeing you, Klein. Take care." Kirito almost sadly begins to say as he walks away and I'm about to follow him.

"Kirito!" Klein calls his name before I can begin walking after him. "I… Hey… Kirito. Um, you look better like this. Way cooler than your avatar." Even with the gloominess of the gravity of our situation, Klein still knows some way on how to make us feel just a little better. "You too man. You look awesome." I smile back at him for the compliment to me.

"Yeah, and I think that scruffy face fits you ten times better, too." Kirito replies back to him before walking off.

I turn to Klein with a point in his direction. "Same with the hair. Goes way better with that bandana." After saying my piece on his appearance with a smile, I jog up to Kirito before he gets too far. I come up on his right once he stops. He stays still for a second before turning around. I look as well but I don't see anything or anyone. _'Guess he was hoping to see Klein.'_ He lets out a sad breath of air at seeing no one before turning forward with his head low.

I clap my hand on his shoulder, startling him as he turns to me. For a second, he kind of forgot I was here before I give him a confident smirk and nod down the alleyway. "C'mon, let's do this."

Seeing as how I've got his back, his confidence comes back full swing and pats my shoulder as well. Without any words spoken, we run full sprint through the town, past different streets, the stalls manned by NPCs until we make it past the main entrance of the Town Of Beginnings and into the open but trapped world we are in. The towns are safe zones so we don't have to worry about getting killed easily by just about anything not of our own choice. Once you step out though, all bets are off.

We tear across the open fields where we were just farming barely a few minutes ago in favor of getting to our next destination that's rich with more game. In front of our path we see a few wolves spawn and one of them immediately moves in to engage my friend in front of me. Not perturbed or intimidated in the least Kirito unsheathes his sword and with a mighty yell, he launches a sword skill right at the attacking wolf. His attack cuts clean through his opponent as its defeated. He doesn't bother to stop to check the congratulations or what he earned as we continue to move without means of stopping. I was able to move past him since his momentary halt after doing his sword skill. Because I'm in front, now I'm the one ready to engage the two wolves moving in to attack. I reach my hand behind me and grab the handle of my sword.

With a yell of my own, my sword skill activates as I pull out my sword with one hand as I twirl myself around. As I twist, both hands grab the handle of my weapon and with a mighty swing I activate the horizontal sword skill, cleaving the two wolves in one swipe. Like my friend, the congratulations appears for me but I too continue to move as fast as I can to where we need to go with me following my friend and my sword held against my shoulder, ready to strike when needed.

Kirito lets out a yell of determination while I silently focus ahead of us. _'This game means to end us… means to end every single one of our lives.'_ My hand grips my handle tighter. If theirs one thing I've been most of my life… is I've been a gamer on all kinds of styles. Something my parents weren't too fond of but there's no way they can complain now. All that 'wasted time' as they've reminded me time and time again… no. This is my world now and you know what?

' _I. WILL. NOT. FALL.'_

* * *

… **Well, how does this look? Is his weapon an interesting choice? A boring one? His name? If you all want tell how this looks to be shaping up already. To be honest, this was an idea I've had for awhile and I don't know why but I suddenly just felt like I wanted to go ahead and start putting this into words. Despite on occasion how I've seen some people complain how the story of the SAO series and hate it, I love the show. Being a gamer myself, this story kind of hits me in the aspect and I love how it is. What kind of also got me to finally start making this story was the fact I was able to finally play a Sword Art Online game. Namely, Fatal Bullet. The previous games in the past were always PlayStation exclusives and I didn't have the right console to play them. Now since Fatal Bullet came out on other consoles instead of just a PS exclusive, I was able to play it and man did I have fun with it.**

 **In any case, this was fun to write and I hope I added just a little variety enough where you all will take a vested interest in this story of mine. While a Katana is my favorite most of all, Klein kind of got that weapon locked down and I don't want to feel cheap for using it as well. I think I can make this an interesting story to keep attention on using a large two-handed longsword. Other weapons I've thought of to use were either spear or longarm type weapons, as well as possibly blunt weaponry but in the end I decided on still using a sharp blade. Tell me what you all think and maybe if I should branch his skills out into other types of weapon styles.**

 **I'm not sure exactly how much time I'm going to devote to this story but I'll do what I can to get some work done for this in as much regular intervals as I can. Also just so everyone knows, I follow the anime mostly, specifically the dubbed versions.  
**

 **Thank you all for taking the time to read this and I hope our journey through this story will be an interesting and fruitful one to experience. Have fun reading everyone and have a great day.**


	2. 2 1st Floor - Boss

Grueling. That's pretty much the word I'm just going to outright describe what I've had to do. One month has passed since the game has trapped us here and according to the stats, over 2,000 people have died.

Lost their lives entirely… in a video game.

It seems so… unreal that this is actually happening but we have no idea or evidence to contradict otherwise whether they are still alive outside or not. Even so, I haven't decided to just lay down and wait out this nightmare like I've seen plenty of people do. Thanks to Kirito, he and I have been farming and completing quests left and right to get our levels as high as we can and our pockets lined with as much cash as we can grab. Of course, my friend has a different way of playing and for whatever reason he's decided most often to become a solo player, much to my confusion. If this were a regular game, I'd understand the preference to solo it and all but here, we lose all out health, we're gone for good. Having a partner at least will make sure you got someone watching your back and helping you out should you are in dire need of it.

Although I guess whether this is a death game or not, the appeal of solo playing is still there. No one to watch out for and help, you can go at your own pace, all the experience and col you get will go straight to you rather than splitting it amongst your party. All the loot and rewards dropped is yours as well. Still, since Kirito is pretty much the one friend I've worked with mostly and I haven't seen Klein as much, I too have soloed when I can. I take care to make sure I know what I'm getting myself into and t not bite off more than I can chew. Plenty of healing potions and crystals in my inventory to make sure my health will be high up when I need it.

It's funny. I used to stockpile so many consumables and items because I never felt the need to use them or I always kept telling myself there would be an opportunity for me to use it later. Now I can't hold them anymore and I will use whatever I need at any opportunity.

After all, no respawning this time. Kayaba's playing for keeps.

* * *

In the month that's passed, we haven't made any progress on locating the 1st floors boss, even with Kirito and I's scouting of the floor. A lot of people are still being cautious when they travel so not many people are actively looking for the entrance to the boss.

Until now.

That's where we are right now. In a small coliseum where well over a dozen members of the more active fighters are gathered for news about the first floor boss.

"Okay, people! Now that everyone's here, let's get this meeting started. So anyway, I want to thank everyone for coming. Good to see you. My name is Diavel, and in this game, the job I rolled is knight!" Diavel, the bearer of the news, tells everyone from his spot on the middle of the ground floor

A lot of people end up laughing because that's not really a thing here. "Dude, there's no job system in this game!" One guy comments.

"You guys want to hear this or not?" Asking the question gets everyone to stop laughing so we can get to the important part of this meeting. "Right, anyway here's the deal. Our party found the boss room at the top of the tower today." This gets I and Kirito's attention at the first confirmation of the boss. Everyone else thinks so too as people start murmuring themselves. "First, we need to defeat the boss and make it to Floor Two. The next step is we have to tell everyone waiting in the {Town of Beginnings} that it is possible to beat this game! Fact is, it's our duty as the most capable players here! Do you agree or not?!" Diavel asks everyone loudly and proudly. Lots of people still wait at the {Town of Beginnings} for this to blow over or are resigned to stay there for the rest of their lives if need be. Taking down this boss will go a long way in boosting morale and showing that we aren't just trapped here. After some more murmuring and nods from everyone, small cheers, clapping and whistling can be heard in agreement. Even Kirito and I smile at this. Diavel continues, "Okay, glad to hear you're all with me on this, now let's figure out how we're going to beat the boss. First off, we'll team up into parties of six."

"Guh!" A sideways glance confirms Kirito isn't exactly fond of that what with the sudden gasp. Me, I'm indifferent… provided I pair up with competent people that can work together.

"A typical party doesn't stand a chance against a floor boss. We need a raid group made up of multiple parties." While Kirito momentarily freaks out as he examines everyone, Diavel continues to speak and explain why the need to pair up. A glance down myself shows that everyone was on the ball because the stands are pretty much devoid of people and down below, all partied up.

"Guess we better get to it, huh Kirito?"

"…"

"… Kirito?" I look back to find I am alone. "Wha-! Bu- You- uh?!" I look all around to try to find my friend until I see him off to the side with another person, this one wearing a cloak almost entirely. "Dude!" I lightly shout at having been left out high and dry by my friend. I get up and begin walking over to him, glaring maybe a little at the back of his head. While I get close though, I see Kirito open his menu and send the mysterious person a group invite. While I'm still annoyed, I smile at the act nonetheless. As soon as I stand behind him, the other person notices me.

"Looks like we aren't the only ones left out."

"Huh?" Kiriot turns back to me. "Oh hey. Sorry for leaving you back there but I just—"

Before he can finish speaking, I hold up my hand to stop him. Once he does, I sigh and relax a little. "Just… send me an invite before I tell you how annoyed I am you left me back there." I straight up demand. He chuckles embarrassingly and smiles sheepishly before he too sends me an invite. As soon as I get the window, I accept it instantly. _'Let's see who this is…'_ The names and health bars of my allies appear on the corner: Kirito and Asuna. _'Okay, we got a girl. Cool.'_ I nod and sit down next to them so we can continue to listen.

"All right. Looks like everyone's teamed up. Now then—"

"Hold up a sec!" Someone loudly interrupts Diavel. Some guy with spiky orange hair on top of the arena is the reason. With a bit of flair and to make sure everyone's eyes are on him, he proceeds to jump down the rows of seats several times at once before sliding to a stop at the bottom. "My name's Kibaou, got that?" He states, pointing his thumb to himself. "Before we take on the boss, I want to get something off my chest! We all know about the two thousand people who died so far, yeah? Well, some of you need to apologize to them right now!" He demands as he points to the stands where everyone is. _'I got a bad feeling about this.'_ I think and from the uneasy expression, so does Kirito.

"Kibaou, I think I know who you're referring to. You mean the ones who were ex-beta testers, right?" Diavel asks and he's right.

"'Course I mean them! The day this stupid ass game started, the beta guys just got up and vanished, right? They ditched all us beginners! They snagged all the good hunting spots, and they grabbed all the easy quests too! They were the only ones getting stronger in here. This whole time, they've ignored us like we were nothing. Hell, I bet there are some of them here! Come on out, beta testers! We should make them apologize to us, and we should make them all give up their money and the items they got! They can't expect the party to trust them when they don't trust us! Why should we?!" Kibaou goes off loudly to everyone, voicing his displeasure at the beta testers. Looking to Kirito, he looks incredibly uncomfortable about the accusation and looks conflicted about it all. I'm not surprised to be honest. That is kind of something we did on the first day. After we separated from Klein, Kirito immediately started leading me around to find all the good stuff that would help us considerably. That of course meant lots of other people got the short end of the straw since they didn't know exactly how to go about things. Still, I place my hand on his shoulder, calming him down some as I give him a comforting smile. He smiles back.

"Can I say something?" A new voice speaks ups, getting our attention. Another guy, big guy, African American holding a giant axe, two handed variant most likely, like my sword, walks down the steps and steps up to Kibaou. The guy is tense and I'm not surprised why. This new guy is easily a head taller than him. "Hey, my name's Agil. Kibaou right? I want to make sure I'm on the same page. You say the ex-beta testers should be blamed for the rookies' deaths because they didn't help them, and you want them to apologize and give up their winnings. I leave anything out?" He reexplains what Kibaou said earlier.

"No, you didn't."

"The item store hands these out for free. It's a guidebook. You got one, didn't you?" Agil asks as he pulls out a small book.

"Sure I got one. So, what about it?

"You know who was handing these out? The ex-beta testers." I smile at the bomb Agil just dropped on everyone. More murmurs and the conflicted look Kibaou has is satisfying. "Listen up! Everyone had equal access to this information. Even so, lots of players still died. I didn't come here to point fingers at anyone. I'm here 'cause I want to learn from those players' deaths. I'm here because I want to find out how we're gonna beat the boss." I smile at Agil's small little speech and he's not wrong. We are here to beat the boss after all. That's what this meeting is for to begin with. Because I had Kirito show me the ropes, I didn't grab the book myself, too busy leveling up and farming, but maybe I can learn a thing or two if I check out the guidebook. With one last look to Kibaou, Agil returns to his seat. I smirk at the defeated frustrated look Kibaou has as he returns to his seat in a huff.

"Okay, can we get back to the meeting now?" Diavel resumes speaking, "For info on the boss, it's all in here, the latest issue of the guidebook you just heard about. According to the book, the boss's name is {Illfang the Kobold Lord}. Also, he'll be surrounded by his minions… the {Ruin Kobold Sentinels}. Illfang carries an axe and a buckler. He has four health bars, and when the last one turns red, he switches to a curved sword type weapon called a Talwar. He can change his patterns of attack, too. That's it for the briefing. As for the distribution of loot, money will be divided equally among everyone. The party that defeats the boss gets the EXP; and whoever gets an item, gets to keep it. Any objections?" After explaining everything, he asks everyone. Despite a few murmurings, no one says anything to him. "Good! We leave tomorrow at ten in the morning! Meeting adjourned, people." The meeting concluded, everyone begins to mill about doing their own thing.

Before Kirito and I can do anything, our third party member, Asuna, leaves without so much as a notice to us or a word. We both stare as she leaves our view entirely before Kirito sighs. I pat his shoulder to get his attention on me. "I'm gonna go stock up my supplies. Wanna come with?" I offer to him. Since we're all in a party, we can track and find out where each of us are so if we need to find each other, whether its something or to prepare for the boss battle, we can find each other well enough

"Hm, thanks but I think I'm just going to relax for a bit. Go on without me."

"Alright then. See you when its time." I get up and walk out of the area. Grabbing my supplies is one thing but I'm gonna need to make sure I'm mentally prepared for it as well. _'I should to the same as him, later.'_

* * *

I spent the majority of the day farming a bit more col so I can buy more potions and crystals for use in the upcoming battle. Once I've gotten enough cash, it was simply to head to the stores and stock up on what I needed. Mostly what I got was an abundance of healing items, along with some speed enhancing crystals. Crystals aren't cheap and the booster I got definitely was not. I only have a few so I have to make sure I make them count. My biggest weakness in my two-handed sword is the slow movement I'll be hampered with. Reach and strength aren't a problem but if I suddenly get ganked and somehow cut off from everyone, I don't want my slow movement to lead to my downfall. Remembering from them meeting and the handbook I picked up, it's possible Illfangs minions are more of a swarm attack strategy along with distractions from him the real target. Too many gang up on one player and their a goner.

If it was just one opponent, I wouldn't bother. Multiple… that's a different matter entirely. As soon as it started getting dark and having gotten everything I needed, I payed for a hotel room until tomorrow and spent a few hours straight sitting and easing my mind into it. One thing I've come to learn is that you can have all the items you need for a situation, have the strength, speed, and knowledge to go along with it… but it'll be all for nothing if you aren't prepared for it mentally. I even took a small nap but mostly I spent the time mentally preparing myself for my first real battle, knowing exactly what the stakes are. As soon as it was starting to get late, I decided to go ahead and find the other two in my party, just to make sure we're good to go. That's where I find myself walking through the streets, passing by players of the frontlines as they relax a bit before we go into combat tomorrow. Soon enough, I manage to track them to a small street off the main path where they are conversing. I come up behind the two as catch the last part of their conversation.

"Okay. Why are you here?" Kirito asks as I tread slowly and quietly.

"So I don't lose sight of who I am. I don't want to lock myself in a room in the {Town of Beginnings} and slowly rot away. I'd rather stay the way I am till the last moment. Even if a monster beats me and I die, I won't lose to this game or this world, no matter what." Asuna states firmly with conviction. While I don't like how she seems so keen and comes off as almost eager to die, I can appreciate the fact that she doesn't want to sit around doing nothing. She wants to do something. _'Good on ya'.'_

"I wouldn't want a party member dying on me, so try not to die tomorrow." Kirito advices her to do for tomorrow. On that we can agree wholeheartedly.

"These should help then." I make my presence known as I reach to the spot between them and place the healing items down between them. They both look on in surprise at my sudden appearance.

"Dude! When'd you get here?!" Kirito asks loudly, surprise clearly evident in his voice.

"… Just now." My friend gives me a deadpan look before he sighs with closed eyes and Asuna turns away from me. "Anyway, I went ahead and stocked up on essentials for the upcoming fight. Also grabbed some extra healing supplies for you guys so you can focus on resting and preparing rather than shopping." I offer as I continue to place down a few more of them, split evenly between them

"Oh, thanks." Kirito is grateful for the gesture and pockets his share.

"Good. Nice work." Asuna says in a huff. I'm not sure if its because she hasn't warmed up to me or because she didn't like how I surprised them.

With a shake of my head, I walk around them and prepare to head on my way. "Anyway, its getting kind of late. I'm gonna turn in early. See you two when its time."

"See ya."

"Bye." My teammates says their byes as I walk away to my hotel room. I don't go too far though before I stop. "Hey." I say. Even though I'm not looking at them, I know their looking at me now. Slowly, I turn around and stare at the both of them. "We watch each other's backs. No matter what. I'd prefer it if we lived to see this thing through." Having said my piece, I continue on.

* * *

It's time. The raid group ready to take on the first floor boss of this game walks through the {Forest Field} towards where we were told where our target is. We're all walking in a long column along the safest, fastest route we have to the boss room. It was pretty much generally agreed upon by everyone, either vocally or silently, to go as a group to minimize the possibility of being attacked and exhausting our resources in skirmishes encountered on the way. No one wants to waste their healing items on a random encounter when we're heading for a Boss.

"Let's go over it again." Kirito decides to do a quick recap of our role in the upcoming fight. "We're the backup. So, our target's gonna be the boss's minions, the {Ruin Kobold Sentinels}."

"Got it." I reply in confirmation I know what we need to do.

"I know." Asuna does as well.

"I'll use a sword skill to knock their weapons up and out of the way. When I do, one of you switch and jump in."

"What's a switch?" Asuna asks.

While I'm not too caught up in the question, I hear Kirito audibly gasp. "Okay, level with me. Is this the first time you've ever been in a party?"

"Uh-huh."

While I and Asuna continue to walk, we notice Kirito lag behind… like a lot. Stopping and turning back we see him stare at her in surprise. He then slumps forward and sighs. I chuckle lightly at a sort of repeat predicament Kirito has kind of found himself in. I step up to him and pat his back. "Your just a teacher for noobs, aren't 'cha?" I ask him quietly so Asuna doesn't here. After all, he did help me and Klein the first time when we played the game. Here he goes again.

At the dejected sad head nod, I pat his back comfortingly.

* * *

We stop in front of the door to the boss room where Diavel turns back to us all. "Listen up, everyone. I've only got one thing to say to you. Let's win!" Everyone steels themselves. _'Straight and to the point… I like it.'_ "Come on!" Ready as we'll ever be, he opens the door and lets us in. As everyone begins to slowly pour in with my team in the back, the room starts off dark but when the majority of us enter, the entire large room lights up with torches sparking to life with fire, giving us a clear and unobstructed view of our opponent. {Illfang The Kobold Lord}, that giant fat red lizard lets out a mighty loud roar and readies his axe and shield. His minions spawn and snarl before they all charge us together. "Commence attack!" With a point of his sword, the preparation everyone has been waiting for up until this moment has started. The frontliners let out various war cry's as they charge the enemy as one, ready to fight and show this game what we're made of.

As the battle rages, the assigned troops and squads move in to attack and tear illfangs health down as much as possible with Diavel coordinating everyone. His orders range to all the different squads and groups to do what they need to do. From attacking and defending to when to switch out and heal.

Elsewhere is where we are. "Squads D, E and F, keep those minions off us!"

"Yeah, you got it!" Kirito yells to our leader and moves in to engage one of the sentinels. Like we planned for us to engage the minions, Kirito blocks its attack before he attacks and knocks enemy's weapon out of its grip. "Switch!"

"Go for it Asuna!" I shout at her and she takes it.

"I'm on it!" She sprints forward, running low to the ground with her weapon ready to thrust and attack the open enemy Kirito left for her. I am utterly surprised by the sheer speed that she exhibits. If I didn't know better I'm pretty sure she pushed herself into an agility/speed build because holy crap she closes the distance in no time at all and attacks the open enemy with some sort of flurry stab sword skill. The minion is riddled various stabs wounds and slashes all around its body before it dies soon after.

"Wow." I mutter in awe at how quick she was.

Three new sentinels spawn and move in to engage her. "Switch!" She yells and jumps backs.

"Vendicar!"

"On it!" I reply and move to engage the three new sentinels coming at her. Gripping my sword with both hands, letting it drag just above the ground behind me to my right, I move past her for my turn to engage them. The sentinels snarl in preparation to attack me as they move to attack as one. At the opening they leave themselves in, I smile and ready my sword skill. Like before, my sword glows and as soon as they get close enough, in a single swipe I hit all three of them. My {Cyclone} sword skill rips through them from down to the right to the upper left, cutting a red diagonal line across all three of them. Reach was my advantage here so my long sword easily cut through them before they could get close enough to hit me with theirs, if only barely. Still it was successful as one after another, they disappear in explosive polygons and I step back to quickly assess the situation.

"Nice work." Kirito compliments me as moves up to me.

"Thanks." I reply before looking to where our main team is fighting.

"Looks like the guidebook was right." Kibaou mutters as we watch the boss establish his final form now that he's on his last bar of health. With another roar he tosses away his axe and shield and begins to grab his final weapon.

"Stay back! I've got it!" Suddenly Diavel charges forward ahead of everyone, intent on taking on the last of the boss by himself.

' _Wait. That's not right. The plan was to surround him.'_ I recall the plan that was instructed for each and every single one of us to do. Nonetheless, Illfang pulls out his weapon for us to see.

"Wait, stop!" Kirito suddenly shouts towards our reckless leader. "It's no good! Get out of there!" Whatever it is that he was trying to do, It's too late for Kirito to give the warning as the boss moves at an ungodly speed all over the place. Diavel is left completely open at the speed and Illfang closes the distance to the lone fighter in an instant. With one swipe, a deep giant red cut tears through Diavel's body, and his health.

"Diavel! No!" Kibaou cry's out as we watch our leader go flying away and impact the ground far away from the boss. No one else can get to him as Illfang begins to engage the others.

"Diavel!" While Kirito runs over to our downed leader, I run at the minion that he pushed back earlier and before it can attack him from behind I run my sword straight through the monster and push him away from my friend. It lets out a squeal from the hit but disintegrates soon after once I push it against the ground. Not wanting to take anymore chances, I run up and move into a defense position near Kirito while he tends to Diavel. "What the hell were you thinking?" Kirito begins to scold him but before he can give him the healing item, he pushes Kirito's hand back.

"You know… you were a beta-tester too, weren't you?" Even injured, Diavel manages to say to Kirito, both surprising him and me a little.

"You were after the Last Attack Bonus… the rare item. You're just like me, a beta-tester." _'Beta-tester? Diavel your one?'_ I'll admit, I was kind of fooled by that to be honest, and it does explain his willingness just now in trying to finish Illfang alone.

"Please… you have to… defeat the boss… for everyone here!"

The cracking of glass through the air finally makes me look back and my eyes widen as it finally sets in. With his final words spoken, Diavel is gone. His body completely shatters into millions of virtual pieces, erasing his existence before our very eyes. Thing is though, a lot of times I saw and heard that familiar breaking noise over and over again during the time here in this game. Usually, its when an item breaks or I and my friends kill a monster. Only now… it's a player.

This is… I think this is the first time I've seen a player die before my very eyes. He's gone and nothing is going to bring him back. _'This… this is a death game. I've known our lives are on the line but I didn't… It didn't hit me until now.'_ My thoughts slowly peel off as slowly look over at my own shell-shocked friend. The realization is sinking in for him as well. His look of surprised horror slowly morphs into a neutral look before he looks… ready, for something. From the slow stand up and grip of his sword, I think he knows its time for us to take off the kiddy gloves, and fight for the others for a change.

"I'll go too." Asuna wastes now time in coming up to Kirito's left and voicing her support.

"I've got your back." I move up to Kirito's right side in support of his oncoming attack as well. _'No way am I being left out now.'_ I think as I grip my sword behind me tightly.

"Okay." He nods at his teams backup and before long Illfang has already pushed back the other members of our raid group and left himself open for us to engage. We take the opportunity as we run. "We'll hit him just like we did the minions!" We move forward and are running full sprint towards the only enemy left in this entire place.

"You got it."

"Right." Asuna and I voice our agreement as we ready ourselves when Illfang spots us.

Like before, Kirito moves in to engage him first while Asuna and I wait for the opportunity to strike. Both fighters weapons ignite with the use of their sword skills. "Switch!" Asuna and I move in to attack him. Unfortunately, his recovery time seems to have increased as well as I catch a glimpse of his eye staring right at us. "Look out!" Kirito's warning comes just in time as I barely manage to put up my sword to block, bracing the flat of the blade with my hand towards him. Even so, the force of the hit forces me to slide back several feet away from him. I'm more concerned with my partner as she has no means at all to defend herself from such a brutal attack. As I slide back, my breath hitches as I see his blade tear into her form. Relief washes over me though as it's quickly revealed that what he hit was in fact Asuna's cloak. It tears off her and breaks apart, allowing us to see her face and long flow of beautiful orange hair. That doesn't stop her though as while I was knocked back away, Asuna is able to stab into and deal a small amount of damage. She jumps back to put some distance from the enemy but it isn't much.

"He's coming back!" Kirito shouts and moves in to engage. I move as well. The first attack was shaky but now that we know, we implement our plan again and again. Kirito deflects the different attacks while Asuna and I attack him while he's vulnerable. This time we make sure theirs almost no time between Kirito's deflection and our attacks so as to prevent a quick recovery from the boss and pull another opportunity to try to decapitate us. After a few successful attempts, we manage to take out a large chunk of the boss's health. _'We're doing it! We can do this!'_ I can't help but happily think as with a few more hits, he's as good as dead.

My happiness is cut short as when we move in to do another combo attack, the boss wises up to our plan and when Kirito intends to deflect the attack, the boss goes into a feint, making my friend miss and leaves him completely open as Illfangs giant sword cuts into his stomach and sends him flying back through the air and into Asuna. "KIRITO! ASUNA!" I yell my comrade's names as the red mark from the monsters slash on Kirito is clear as day on his chest. The momentum of the hit sends him flying back and slams into Asuna, sending the both of them rolling and sprawling onto the ground behind me as I watch helplessly. A quick of Kirito's health shows he nearly lost his entire health from that hit, leaving him with a small amount of HP left. Not enough to take another one of those attacks that's for sure. As soon as I turn back to Illfang though, he is already on me, forcing me to attempt to block his attack but even when I do, I am still sent flying back through the air until I land past my friends. I stab my sword into the ground as I hit the ground, stopping me from going too far away. As soon as I stand back up, my eyes widen in horror as I see Illfang already on top of my team, sword poised and ready to end them in one swipe.

"RRRaaaaaaaaaaahhh!"

' _Not on my watch!'_ "Nooo! HRAAAAAHH!" With a cry of my own, my {Lightning Thrust} sword skill, the first sword skill is used in this game, activates and like a blur, I push past my friends and intercept Illfangs attack on my friends. In a momentary flash of light, both our weapons clash, making I and the boss recoil harshly. That still doesn't stop either of us though as the monster angrily roars back and tries to hit me again. I pull my sword back in front of me and with a loud 'clang' both our weapons impact each other and we hold each other there, weapons locked. I grit my teeth and hold myself firm as I use every ounce of my strength to hold this monster here. Even though I'm holding him, I still manage to look back and look into the surprised wide eyes of my party members. "Get your health back up… NOW!" I begin to say before I accentuate the last word by pushing Illfang back. In the moment of his weapon going up, I twist my sword around to slash at his exposed stomach.

My attack comes in slow so it gives him just enough time to jump far back and well out of my reach. Now that we have a respite in the fight, its time I get serious. "Hurry up and get back on your feet. I'll cover you." I say to my team behind me as I quickly pull out a crystal. The speed enhancing crystal to be exact. After confirming its use, the item shatters in my hand but in an instant, I can already feel the effects on my body. My breath quickens as my body goes into overdrive. _'Let's do this!'_ "COME ON!" I yell out my challenge and after tightening my grip, I hear people call out to me from behind but the outside world deafens as I dash forward. The effects of the crystal are evident on me as Illfang and I charge each other, my speed pushing and on par with my opponent as we both close the distance in no time at all.

The world slows but my senses are faster as we both bring our blades up to meet each other. While this is happening, I barely notice that I'm letting out a war cry until our blades connect. Like before, the 'clang' rings out as we delve into a repertoire of blades impacting against each other. Thanks to the speed enhancement, I can keep up with Illfangs attacks but only barely. His attacks are also very strong but I manage to hold my own by mostly deflecting his attacks away from me. My blade moves all around me as I stand my ground and continue to impact his weapon with my own. The impact of our weapons doesn't seem to faze him all that much as he continues to try to chop me down to size but it still does have an effect on me. The sheer force of the impacts reverberates along the length of my weapon, into my hands and shake my entire body to its core. A quick look to my health bar shows my friends are back in the majority of green but I am slowly losing mine. Even though Illfang isn't directly hitting me, the force of his attacks slowly nip away at my health. _'I have to force him back… soon.'_ While I continue to defend against him, I keep an eye out for an opportunity against him.

One anger fueled overhead strike is all I need. _'Now!'_ Just before the blade connects to me, I hold the handle of my sword above and angle it to my left. Sparks fly off as Illfangs Nodachi scrapes along my blade, the edge barely nicking my cheek before it slams into the ground to my left.

He's completely open.

"Hrrraaah!" With all my might, I pull the weapon up and into Illfangs side. As much as I would have liked to have run my entire blade into his gut, he was still fast enough to move out of the way, but not entirely. I smirk in satisfaction as the first quarter of my blades end cuts into his side and leaves a nasty red mark from my hit. Even though I hit him, he's still determined to fight and end me. He completely turns around to his right at an ungodly speed and my eyes widen as his weapon comes careening towards my face from his left. I barely have time to pull the flat part of my sword in front of me before it impacts. "AArrhhhh!" I yell as he hits me full on in my block stance. Because I wasn't able to brace myself, a piece of his blade cuts into my chest as I'm completely thrown off my feet and sent hurtling through the air.

"Vendicar!" I vaguely hear someone call out my name as I flip through the air before impacting hard against the ground. I grunt as I roll on the ground over and over again before I end up sliding on my front. I groan after the rough treatment and look up. My sword slides up next to me and Illfang is being harassed by some players so his focus isn't on me anymore. I even see Agil leading the group as they take on the monster. Taking the opportunity, I quickly down a healing potion and breathe in relief as I watch my health go up some. It's not full, but it's enough. "Vendicar!" A glance to the side shows Kirito and Asuna running up to me. "Are you alright?" Kirito asks me concerned.

"Tch." I smirk and get up onto one knee before I grab my sword and press the tip into the ground. "I'm good. I'm not done yet." I growl and push myself onto my feet with my sword. "You two good to go?" I ask them now.

"We're fine now. Here. Top yourself off." Asuna offers me another health potion. Not wanting to argue or take any chances, I quickly take the item and down it, finishing filling up my health bar.

"Thanks. Now… I'm tired of seeing that thing live any longer. What about you two?" I ask with a slight smirk as I begin walking forward.

"Heh! Couldn't agree more!" Asuna walks up next to me as our speed turns to a jog.

"Ditto to that!" Kirito moves up as well before our speed turns to a full-blown sprint. _'We will defeat this monster! We will end it! FOR YOU DIAVEL!'_ The speed enhancement has already expired but now that I have my team with me, I don't have to be as fast anymore. My eyes train on the beast as it knocks down the other players and prepares to kill more players. _'NO MORE!'_

"Watch out!" Kirito pulls ahead of us and activates his sword skill, "You're going down!" Again, like clockwork, he deflects Illfangs attack, preventing any damage from befalling our allies and forcing the boss away from everyone. "Come on, Asuna, Vendicar! Help me beat this sucker! One last attack!"

"You got it!" Asuna yells.

"Right behind you!" I confirm as well that I'm with them. If I wasn't, I would never forgive myself.

As one, we all yell as sprint forward to attack him… one… last… time. Kirito deflects his attack while Asuna hits him. Her attack forces him to drop his sword, leaving him completely vulnerable for me next. I move in, launching my {Lightning Thrust} and stab right into his stomach before he can dodge it. He roars in pain at my attack but I'm not done with him yet. With a mighty heave, I pull my blade out to my left, tearing it out the right side of illfangs stomach and pushing me away, giving Kirito the opening he needs to finish him. Not even a second passes from me leaving him does Kirito run his blade all the way along the boss. His cut starts from the stomach of the boss and I watch with satisfaction as his blade is pushed upwards along the body. Illfang is completely helpless as Kirito's final attack cuts through the entirety of his body all the way up to that bastards ugly face. One final cut and Kirito finishes running his blade through our enemy.

Silence overtakes the entire room as we watch the last of the bosses health drain until finally, he shatters before our very eyes. No one says a word until we see the very last particle that once was {Illfang The Kobold Lord} disappear into complete nothingness.

As soon as the {Congratulations} indicator message pops up overhead, "We did it!" Cheers and roars of applause go out all over the place as it sinks in we just killed the boss. The 1st floor boss! The first boss in this entire game and we just killed it.

"We did it… we did it…" I can't help but mutter the words over and over again as I collapse onto my knees close to Kirito, who is also on the ground breathing heavily. While in reality I'm not technically tired, just the sheer chaos we had to deal with was draining in of itself, even if it is just mentally.

"Nice job. We did it." Asuna comes up and compliments out loud, no doubt to all of us for those attacks we launched without remorse.

"That was some fine swordsmanship." Even Agil comes by to offer his compliments. "The both of you. Congratulations, today's victory is all thanks to the both of you." Kirito I'm not surprised at the compliment but I am surprised at it directed at me too.

"Wha-… I-I don't think…" I stutter a little.

"C'mon. When you took on Illfang all by yourself like that? That was pretty impressive." Agil reminds me of what I did.

"You saved us. Thank you." Asuna thanks me. Now that I think about, that was something I did. _'Oh… yeah. I attacked the boss… alone… in that moment. Wow.'_ I lightly shake my head as they look at Kirito.

"And you? You had some serious guts to have your teammates go up against the boss like that. Your plans of attack were the turning point."

"…No." I'm not the only one in a bit of denial at the compliment as Kirito says no. Even so, that doesn't stop the people from cheering and voicing their happiness at us. We both look at the cheering crowds, in somewhat disbelief that its for us, before we turn to each other and smirk.

"Stop cheering!" All at once, everyone does just what the voice had demanded. We look back to the crowd of people towards the origin of the voice. "Why'd you do it, huh? Why'd you let Diavel die?!" It doesn't take a genius to figure out the angered voice is Kibaou as he yells from past the group of players.

"Let him die?" Kirito mutters the question confused.

This sets off the sad but angry Kibaou as he stares at us angrily. "That's what I said. Admit it! You knew the technique the boss was gonna use. You could've told us! Then Diavel would've stood a chance… He wouldn't have to die!" He angrily states and explains the whole thing out loud for everyone. _'What? Oh no. When Kirito yelled for Diavel to get back, he caught on. This isn't good.'_ I grit my teeth and clench my hands at Kibaou's action. Already his words are spawning doubt as people begin to talk amongst themselves about the whole situation. _'I knew I didn't like that guy the second he opened his mouth.'_

"I know why he knew!" After a few tense seconds of whispered murmurings from everyone, another guy catches on and begins to spur the crowd as he points an accused finger at my friend. "He used to be a beta-tester! Think about it! He knew the boss's attack patterns! He knew, but he kept it from us! And I bet he's not the only beta-tester here! Come on, show yourselves!" The angry jackass demands loudly of everyone here.

And just like that, all the happiness, joy and elation that came from killing the boss is gone in an instant, replaced by uncomfortable paranoia. Murmurs, glances and steely gazes are swapped by everyone as they all look at each other warily. Comrades in arms now turned against each other at the idea one of them may be a secret beta-tester. Asuna and Agil walk away from us and proceed to Kibaou to hopefully try to talk some sense into the guy and keep this from spiraling out of control. Already I'm seeing plenty of people start to become really tense about the whole beta-tester affair and its starting to worry me. _'We can't have people turning on each other like this. We need people to work together for future battles with the bosses and we need to trust each other to combat them! This is bad… really bad… something has to- what's with the laughing?'_

"Eh hehe…" The laughing. The laughing pulls me from my thought as to who is chuckling at a time like this. As it continues on, I find out its none other than Kirito that's laughing. "… Hahahahaa… So, you guys think I used to be a beta-tester. It's not cool to put me in the same class with those noobs." We all stare at him as he talks and stands up.

"What'd you say?!" Kibaou isn't exactly happy with the words, actually I think any words for that matter that come from Kirito's mouth he'll be angry with, that he says. Not to mention the laughing to go along with it.

"You heard me. Most of the thousand people who scored a slot in SAO's beta were rookies. They were so green, they didn't even know how to level up. Hell, even you guys are better than they were." Everyone stares at him surprised as we casually walks through the crowd of people, making them part like the Red Sea due to his presence as he continues to speak. "But me, I'm nothing like those guys, man. During the beta, I made it to floors that were higher than any of the other testers. That's a fact. I knew about the boss, 'cause I fought tons of monsters with way more sword skills on higher floors!" _'God damn Kirito. You're really playing with fire with this stunt.'_ And I don't even know why he's speaking like this. "I know a bunch of other things, too. More than you can imagine. More than any info broker."

"W-What the hell? If that's true, then you're worse than a beta-tester! You're a goddamn cheater, that's what you are!" Kibaous words spark anger amongst everyone as now people start yelling and shouting insults at my friend. Using my sword I push myself up onto my feet and I slowly make my way against the main body group of players, prepared to help Kirito if people start rioting against him. _'Logically, may not be the best option to ally with the center of everyone anger… but he helped me with my first steps in this game. I owe him.'_

"He's a beta-tester and a cheater! He's a Beater!" One guy yells.

"A beater… Yeah, that's good. I like it." That comment makes everyone gasp and me stop next to some people. I'm still surprised at how he's acting now too. Nothing like how when I first met him. This seems… odd. "Okay, you can call me a beater. Just make sure you don't confuse me with those beta-testers anymore." To accentuate his words, he opens up his inventory and puts on an entirely new armor piece for himself. A long black cloak appears on his form and bristles for a second before settling on him As Kirito begins to walk away through everyone, I'm trying to rack my head around why on earth he just pissed everyone off like that and made himself out to be a bad guy basically. As soon as he passes by me, the last person in the group of players, his head remains forward but the corner of his eye shifts to me… and he smiles.

Not… bad smiling like he was when he was talking to everyone. That sort of… evil dark smirk he was giving everyone as he was angering everyone. No this one was feels more… genuine. _'What?'_ My mouth gapes open as he walks towards the stairs leading to the next floor door. My view shifts back to the others and it's when I look at everyone, the realization of Kirito's action sets in as I look around and see everyone's expressions. Before, everyone was completely on edge and casting dangerous looks at nearly everyone here. Now all that anger is directed at my departing friend. I cast one last glance at Kirito's back before my lips lightly curl upwards, _'So that's your play huh? Wow… good on you, Kirito.'_ I smile towards him at the sacrifice and target he placed on his back before I finally let myself relax. After I sheathe my sword on my back, I get ready to follow after him when I see Asuna run to catch up to him. As soon as she passes me, I turn back to everyone else in the room.

"You know… that's the thing about beta's. Your prepared for the full game… but no matter what, its never the finished product. No one, except Kayaba, could have predicted the attack." I make sure I speak just loud enough for them all to hear what I say. It's the truth. Betas are basically demo models for the full release, where changes are made and new mechanics are added that were most likely never in the beta in the first place. You can't expect everything to be the same.

Not wanting to be a part of the crowd anymore, I run to catch up to Asuna and Kirito. "Wait!" She shouts for him to stop, and he does. I stop a few steps behind her. "When we were fighting the boss, you called me by my name."

"I wasn't trying to be rude. Did I mess up the pronunciation?" He apologizes and asks her.

"How'd you even know it?" She asks of him how. I look at her confused a little on her odd question. A quick glance up on my vision shows all three of our health bars and names. _'How did you she not see that?'_

Nonetheless, Kirito shows her how we knew. "If you look right about here," He points at the general spot in his field of vision, "You'll see another two HP gauges under yours. There's a couple names written right next to them, yeah?"

I step up some more until I'm on the same level as Asuna and see her eyes move a little and concentrate.

"Ki-ri-to…" She slowly pronounces my friends name. "Kirito? Your name's Kirito." She finally gets it.

"Yeah." He confirms it.

Asuna purses her lips before she begins to chuckle then full on laugh at the new spot of info she has. "I'm so dumb. It was there the whole time and I never knew." She takes another look before turning to me. "And your… Ve-ndi-car?"

"Heh…" I smirk and shake my head no. "Ven-di-car. Vendicar. At your service, Asuna." I good heartedly reply. After the mess back on the boss floor, the mood is starting to lighten up, even a little, for us you know. She smiles nonetheless before nodding and turning to Kirito.

"You can become powerful here on your own. But if the day comes when someone you trust invites you to join a guild, don't turn it down, 'cause there're limits to what a solo player can do." Even though the mood is somewhat light, Kirito gives us some cryptic and but smart advice in hindsight. Soloing has been fun and somewhat nice not having to deal with other people, but this was on the first floor. The higher floors will most likely start to introduce more and more powerful enemies for us to face. By that point, their skills, tactics and techniques will get more complicated and harder to counteract. Having some teammates can help make sure you stay alive in those scenarios.

"But, you're solo." Asuna points out that little fact about Kirito. Truthfully, Kirito is the closest friend I have in this place but we rarely hung out at all during our time here, only working on a couple quests together but not much else. Without any other words, Kirito proceeds to disband our little group and opens the door to the next area. None of us say anything as he walks off past the door into a whole new area. From his demeanor, it doesn't look like he's going to take his own advice.

I sigh and turn to Asuna. She continues to stare at my friends slowly disappearing form before her shoulders slump. She perks up, or gasps more likely, as a new window pops up in front of her.

{Vendicar sent you a Friend Request}

 **[Accept] [Decline]**

She stares at the window for a few seconds before turning to me. I simply shrug at her. _'I guess… we did kind of just go through hell.'_ After a moment of staring, she smiles and hits accept. "Thanks." I smile.

"Why though?" She asks before I turn to go. I stay staring off at the door for a few more seconds before letting out a breath of air.

"Because… we're gonna need to work together. If we're going to get ourselves and every other player out of here, we need to make sure we can work together, not throw others to the wolves, I.e. Kibaou." As soon as I mention his name, her lips curl into a small frown before I continue talking. "We just worked together in taking out the first floor boss of this death game. We went through a trial by fire together and despite being new… you were amazing back there." I hold no bars in complimenting her. Her speed was by far the best, no doubt.

She blushes and looks away. "O-oh I don't think—"

"Asuna…" I stop her and look at her straight up. "You have skill. More than other people. Your gonna go far. There's no doubt about that." I begin to make my way up the steps and walk backwards towards the door. "If we're going to beat this game, I like being friends with people I both like and know are not gonna get themselves killed so easily. Speaking of, I better go make sure he doesn't get himself killed." I smile at her one last time before I turn towards the door and walk through it. "Be seeing you Asuna! I hope to meet you again in the future!" I call back one last time before I'm completely enveloped by the pathway to the next area.

' _1 floor down… 99 more to go.'_ My foot steps onto the ground of the second floor. As I look up to the sky, my hand grips my sword before I pull out and hold it out to me. _'Time to get to work.'_ I grip the handle with both hands, holding it close to me as I point it to the sky… and sprint forward.

* * *

 **First off, I want to apologize for how late this has been uploaded. For the past few weeks I've been focusing and working on some tests and a project I have for some classes and being that we're practically right on top of finals week, I've had to double down and make sure I got everything set up and properly in order to turn everything in. I've still got the rest of this week to do stuff too so whatever story I'm going to be working on next won't be worked on as hard.**

 **Still, I did like how this chapter turned out and the fighting that came with it. When I first saw Kirito be labeled a Beater and basically piss off everyone, at first I was utterly confused on why he did that when it seemed sort of out of character and not like him, but then after some time it kind of began to make sense as to why he did it and it made me like him more. Nothing pretty much makes people work together more than having a common enemy. An enemy did Kirito make himself to be for a lot of people. That was pretty cool and admirable of him.**

 **Reviews:**

 **NetherOrbit:** In truth, I wish I could have done more to deviate from the main episode but their wasn't much in the first episode. This is only the first chapter so you can expect some changes and challenges Vendicar will meet eventually.

After playing For Honor, it was pretty cool of the finesse they were able to show for such a big weapon the Warden carry's and I thought of some ideas of how to go about it in SAO. Klein already had the samurai aspect taken along with the Katana, my personal favorite sword type, so instead, I'll go with the two-handed longsword. This will be interesting.

Most of the ire I've seen of people for the show stems of how they portrayed Kirito but I don't care about that. You are right on the potential they could have capitalized on with the characters but basically when with 'this is enough.'

I will follow the main plot and episodes closely as I progress my story but their will be times where a chapter will largely be my own and give my character his moments and struggles. Hopefully I can make everything an enjoyable experience. Thank you for the review.

 **Anonymous Ideas:** Yes. Yes it will be good.

 **FractionOfASecond:** 15.

 **Kevito100:** You and me both.

 **xXSpades231Xx:** Its one of those moments where you just can't wait for the time to change and signify the start of something epic you've been waiting to play and be a part of. Be honest, have you had at least one of those moments in your life when your waiting for something to start online, a game or an event, and they tell you it happens on a specific day and you wait till midnight for it start, only to realize that your in a different time zone and it starts several hours later than what you originally thought. Then you proceed to angrily mutter to yourself before trying to go to sleep?

… I think I'm getting off topic. Let me just continue with your other review.

To be fair, it is the very first chapter of the story and their wasn't a whole lot that can be done in the first episode. Future chapters and episodes will hopefully bring out more of what Vendicar can do and what he stands for in his journey against all sorts of obstacles, both physical and mentally exhausting obstacles. Even though it's only the surface of what I have to show for, thanks for the… fair number. Hopefully, I can change your mind and bring that number up some more with progress. Thanks for the reviews.

 **Now that Vendicar has gotten some hardcore action on his person via the first floor boss and has seen first hand someone die, its time for him to not half-ass his fighting and level progression. It's only going to get harder from here on out.**

 **Thank you all for the support of this new story of mine. Go ahead and fave, follow, review, whatever you want to do. But most of all everyone, make sure to have a great day and have fun reading.**


	3. Vengence Starts

It's nice to see some progress has been made in this game by us. After clearing the 1st floor, we were right in people being inspired to fight and beat this came. Clearing one floor has proven we can and eventually will beat it but we can't do it alone. Already the frontline players, dubbed the Clearers, has already seen a boost in player numbers and continues to grow with the players starting to gain levels to put them on par or further than what the enemies are, especially the bosses.

After clearing the boss on the 1st floor, Kirito, Asuna and I all went our separate ways but its not like we're not going to see each other anymore or possibly party up. We've just all decided to just go do our own things at our own pace. Kirito has decided to keep to his own playstyle of soloing the majority of the enemies, while I think I heard Asuna is planning to join up with others. Unsure of the other people we've met during the raid but those two are pretty much who I mostly care about.

As for me, my level has gone up a pretty steady pace I'm comfortable with. I've even decided to take a sort of secondary melee skill just in case. The unarmed skill to be more specific. Actually, I haven't really put a ton of work into it. While the idea is sound, having a secondary but faster ability to fight, I just haven't really found the want or need to put work into it. Seeing as I have no idea if there are any respec items or abilities we could use to allocate all our points later on when we are higher levels in case we feel the want to change our builds, I am being careful as to what I want to put my points into what so I'm not just wasting points needlessly. Haven't really found a situation where I've felt the need to use my faster unarmed ability so I don't know. Even so, my large sword has been good enough for me so far as while I've been going on the solo train as well like Kirito. While I'm okay with the idea of partying up with others, I haven't really found a ton of people I'm willing to party up with.

At least, that's how it was until now.

Currently, I am standing just inside of a town at the entrance, where the safe zone is still in play for me. Words gotten around of a particularly unique quest we can do, however one thing that's kind of put people off from completing said quest is that the reward for it is a weapon.

…That's it. The NPC mentioned a powerful weapon hidden in the nearby unnamed part of a forest that when you brave the place, you can make off with the weapon. Pretty sure Kirito mentioned he had a similar quest back in the first floor but he didn't elaborate exactly how things went down. He was really… not alright apparently. He showed me the sword, but that's it. Difference with this quest now is the vagueness of the reward, and the fact we are not on the first floor.

Problem is, we don't know exactly what type of weapon this quests reward is going to be. It can be any number of weapon types, from a dagger to a sword, mace, maul, longsword, spear, etc. Because of this no one felt the need to go in and get it if it turns out to be a weapon that isn't compatible with their build. Not to mention its only one weapon so not many people want to squad up for it. On top of that, this particular section of this forest is kind of avoided for its giant mobs of enemies. Most of the monsters are weak on their own but if a solo player were to be surrounded, they'd easily be whittled down and die eventually.

Actually, I think that's how this information has come to pass to the public, via some cocky, overconfident, or truly desperate players.

I'm not sure but I digress. I found some people who heard about the quest too and I was able to convince them to party up with me so we can finally tackle this quest. Normally, their would be discord among the group of adventurers about who gets the weapon and such. However I made the argument of simply being able to get this quest done and over with, being known about we were the ones to do it, the amount of XP we could get, col, and the possibility of getting a brand new weapon. If nothing else, if the weapon is something none of us can use, we agreed to sell it and split the cash three ways. It's the best strategy I could come up with, but of course we don't have an ideal quest reward either. I don't like the idea of aggroing the big mobs of the forest so I want at least a couple people with me so in case we do get attacked I have some backup to help fight, and we'll be a small enough group that we can avoid the enemies and get the weapon without having to use our weapons.

So for now, here I am, standing against a wall and waiting for my teammates to arrive. I only got two people but that should be enough for us to watch our backs. They headed off to do some last-minute shopping for this quest and I opted to wait here for them. On a daily basis I always try to keep myself fully stocked up whenever I can. Mostly health items of course but no one can fault me for that.

Eventually, I spot my two companions making their way to me. So I push myself off the wall and turn to them as they step up to me. The two people in front of me are named Jesto and Clance.

Jesto walks up, holding his spear with one hand as it lays on his right shoulder. He looks a bit rugged, with brown eyes, short military style hair cut and he's taller than me by several inches. He's wearing an olive green tunic shirt with a silver steel cuirass over the shirt. Wearing tan fingerless gloves with a wolfs head ring on his right finger, and has on deep dark green pants where they end on his boar-hide gray boots. He's a bit on the beefy side of muscles compared to me and his face is turned into a bit of scowl as he approaches.

A little behind him, Clance is a little more on the smaller side compared to him, maybe a head shorter, give or take a couple inches, same with his size. He has a head of short dirty blonde hair, teal eyes, tan skin and wears dark blue shirt with a leather armour vest over it. Over his torso and shoulders is a small cloak that covers his back but splits down the front of him. He has a brown belt that holds his dagger in, along with his black pants to his black shoes. He's nothing like Jesto and seems pretty shy from the way he's a little hunched over. Of the three of us, he's the weakest in terms of levels while I am the highest. Still, his low level meets the requirement for the quest itself, so Jesto and I are a bit over the level requirement, but unless we're over a dozen levels higher, then the mobs in the forest would swarm us and kill us alone. Together, we have better chances.

The both of them don't really know each other, just as I don't know either of them personally, but at the very least we were able to come together for this quest.

The both of them step up to me and for a few silent seconds we just stare at each other. Actually, the two of them stare at me, mostly Jesto while Clance doesn't meet my gaze, and I to them. "So, we doing this or what?" Jesto states in a gruff voice, tapping his spear on his shoulder a couple times.

"Yeah. Ready to go?" I ask. They both nod yes. Now that we're all ready, I snap my head towards the exit next to me. "Alright then. Let's go."

Just before we leave through the exit though, I notice a group of players a little ways away from us. The majority of them were talking with each other but notice one guy was looking at me since I was standing at my spot. Haven't really got a good look at him as I only kept him in my peripheral but so far I haven't really gotten much on the guy.

Just a sinking feeling about this whole situation.

Regardless, we make our way out of the safe zone and begin making our way to the forest nearby. The treck to the place isn't very far but once we make it to the section of the forest itself we have to go deep in order to find the chest. Because this place has a relatively weak set of monsters, we don't really encounter as we make our way through the place.

"Stay close." I whisper to the others as I take the lead. We're going in a small line with Clance behind me and Jesto taking up the rear. I proposed this type of formation for us since me and Jesto have long reaching weapons we can strike the enemy first if we encounter any while Clance can back up whoever gets attacked first with his short dagger.

"Keep up!" I hear Jesto roughly say quietly and I think push Clance. A glance back shows him stumbling a bit as he grips his knife tightly.

"S-s-sorry!" Clance apologizes and huddles close to me as we continue moving.

"Easy you two. Don't make any loud noises. We don't want to attract any… unwanted attention." I stop and wave for them to stop. Ahead of us we see a group of sleeping wolf monsters. Can't tell exactly what they are since I don't wish to get any closer for fear of waking and aggroing them. We head around them as quietly as we can and continue our walking. "Just keep it together and we'll find this chest without having to fight anyone."

"I'M not the one you need to worry about." Jesto scolds harshly. I can tell exactly who he's referencing out of us all.

"Knock it off!" I quietly yell back at him as I glance back at them. Clance looks down while Jesto just grumbles off in annoyance. With my tone set he doesn't say anything anymore and just keeps his mouth shut. We delve into a bit of silence as continue to move forward until I slow myself to move closer to Clance. "Hey, it's okay." I quietly say. He glances up to me as I do what I can to give my best comforting smile to him. I'm not that good when it comes to being with other people or comforting them for that matter but I do what I can. "Just stay close, stay calm, and we'll get out of this without any problems. Okay?"

"…" He seems to hesitate a little when looking at me but soon he relaxes and smiles back at me. "… Okay." I nod at him.

"Pheh." I hear Jesto scoff behind us but I ignore him in favor of continuing forward as I think on my temporary companions. _'Huh, these are definitely opposites from what I can tell from the both of them. Jesto is a pretty rough character who doesn't seem to be overtly fond of us, especially with someone as timid as Clance. He seems mostly like a solo player or at the very least might be more inclined to be with… tougher stock people if I can hazard a guess._

' _Speaking of Clance, he doesn't seem all that… tough too. Definitely not a solo player either. He can be fast with that dagger but his silent small nature doesn't really fit him fighting in all honesty. He may surprise me… but really I think he'd be better off staying at the **[** **To**_ _ **wn Of Beginnings]**_ _like a bunch of other players have decided to do in order to stay safe. But Like I said before, he might surprise me.'_

"This it?" Jesto asks, which brings me out from my thoughts. Just as he says, we come upon a bit of a path in the trees we're walking in where a section of the trees has been cleared away leading to somewhere else. This path doesn't lead to the outside of the forest to where we're going, rather it seems to be here for the sole reason for players to enter the forest blind and eventually find this path that lead to our destination. Just also means once we find it, we'll be moving blind when trying to leave.

"I'm… not sure." I voice my confusion as I look left and right down the path.

"Do you think this leads to the weapon?" Clance asks walking up next to me, same with Jesto on the other side.

"Maybe." I murmur as I try to recall anything that might lead to the weapon. "The info on the quest was pretty vague, but I think players that came back from trying the quest mentioned something about finding paths as well. But they had to turn back after coming under attack." As soon as some people had attacked some small groups of enemies in the forest, the noise drew others to them and they either perished from the overwhelming force or had to retreat. By maintaining quiet and being unnoticed, we aren't being attacked by everything in the forest but we also run the risk of more attacking us if we do get attacked. "So I guess we follow the path." I shrug and gesture down the path.

"You sure that's a good idea?" Jesto questions with a cross look, no doubt getting annoyed at how long this is taking.

"No… that's why we're going through the trees on the side of the path, in case the path itself is laid with traps." I state and begin walking through the trees. They don't argue with me or don't care to and fall in line behind me.

"Y-you think theirs traps on the path?" Clance hesitantly asks as he steps next to me, putting me between him and the path we are walking parallel to.

"It's possible. I don't have any skills put into **[Trap Detection]** , and I assume you both don't either?" I ask looking at them. They both shake their heads no, making me grimace. "So I'd rather not take any chances to be honest. Anyone got any better ideas?" I ask them without stopping. Jesto scoffs but remains quiet while Clance shakes his head no again. I don't think Jesto likes all this ordering around I'm doing but I think he more so than likely just wishes to get this quest over with. I wanna get out of here soon as well so I'll bare the brunt of his annoyed state for a bit longer.

Thankfully as we continue to move forward we aren't beset by any groups of enemies and don't have to avoid any too much, though I do notice one particular enemy that Kirito warned me against and I should be very careful against: The **[Little Nepenthes]**.

These things aren't really that powerful alone, but the different versions that allow for whole mobs of them to come piling in and swarm there target is not good. Being that this forest is mostly filled with low level monsters, this monster type is perfect helping with the swarm tactic. Kirito warned me about them, but he didn't really elaborate on them while we were on the 1st floor. He just said: _'Watch for red.'_

Either way, I make sure we keep our distance from them. We don't have to move for too long though as eventually we find a promising spot.

The chest is right there in the middle of the clearing but I also notice several other paths similar to the one we just walked down going off in other directions. If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say the paths all line up with an asterisk symbol. _'Weird.'_ I mentally comment before looking back at the chest.

"I-is that it?" Clance asks as he steps up to my side.

"You see any other treasure chests?" Jesto asks like if Clance asked a stupid question, making the kid recoil.

"Easy." I wave him down as I glance at him before looking back at the clearing. The place is pretty open but so far I don't see anything that looks like a trap or any monsters either. Their probably still in the trees but there's not much else I can tell from where we are right now. "Alright, that's as good a place as any for the weapon to be. Wait here. Watch my back and I'll go get it." I propose and go to step forward.

"Hold on a second!" Before I can though, Jesto roughly grabs me and pulls me back before turning me to him, where I see his angry face staring right at me. "Do you take me for an idiot?! You think I'm just going to let you grab that weapon on your own?! What's to stop you from grabbing it and leaving us here to die while you make off with the goods?!" His voice starts to escalate and I wave for him to quiet down. He takes it to another level though as he forces himself against me, placing the shaft of his spear against my neck and pushing me against a tree. "You may have been calling the shots up until this point but I am NOT going to let you screw me over like this!"

*SLAM*

"Ar-Mmmm!" Before he can do any damage to me, I grab him and force us to switch positions where he is now pressed up against the tree, my right hand pressed over his mouth and my other hand holding his hand clenching is spear against the tree. The guy may have been more intimidating and taller than me but my strength is higher than his by a wide margin, which is what I need in order to wield my sword. He struggles a bit in my grip but when he finally notices I'm not trying to kill or doing anything to hurt him, he stops and stares hatefully at me as I keep firmly staring at him.

"… Shhhhh…" I hush quietly to him before glancing to the side behind us. A small distance away I noticed another of the **[Little Nepenthes]** rustling a little before steadying. When I turn back to Jesto, he gets the idea now. I slowly let him go and step back but that doesn't stop him from staring at me. "If you want to come with me, that's fine. It's just if we get spotted out there in there in the open, we're going to have a hard to getting out if we're surrounded. It was just a suggestion." After quietly explaining to him, I turn to Clance, who lets out a sigh of relief at the situation being diffused. "Clance, you okay watching our backs from here? Or do you wanna go with?" I offer to him.

He shakes his head no and stands next to a tree. "No, I'll stay here and keep any eye out, in case we get ambushed."

I nod to him before pulling out my sword from my back and turning to Jesto. "Well, lets go then." I tell him and slowly walk out of the tree line. Jesto really doesn't trust me as I do hear his footsteps step quietly from behind. That's fine. Just as long as we get this done. Our steps are slow but careful as we make our way to chest. "Alright, we made it." We make it without any problems thankfully.

"About time. Now grab it already." Jesto quietly says as he grips his spear tighter. I nod back at him before laying my sword down and going for the chest.

"There we go." I comment quietly as I open the chest.

"We got it?" Jesto asks from behind as he walks up next to me. I turn to answer him.

*Whooosh*

Before I can though, what feels like a gust of wind blasts at us from out of nowhere, making us recoil and bring our arms up to shield our eyes from the wind. When it dissipates, I quickly look around to find out where exactly the wind came from as it had to come from an enemy rather than just be natural. As I look around though I notice one very important thing that happened:

The weapon is gone.

"What the-?!" I exclaim in surprise and look closer at the chest. It's now completely empty now with nothing inside it whatsoever. "No… no no no no no how the-?!"

"What happened?! Where is it?!" Jesto whisper asks angrily as he stares at the empty chest.

"I don't know! Their was something there I know it but now it's gone! Where did it-?" I begin to ask as I look at the chest, then around, till I notice something. "Wait… where did Clance go?" As I turn around to look, I notice he's not back in the trees where we just were, where he was supposed to stay and keep an eye out. Jesto notices as well and begins looking around until he notices something that makes him stop. I follow and look where he's looking and find something much to my confusion. "Clance?" I question in confusion. Right there in front of us is someone standing there on the edge of the clearing. I recognize its Clance because of the cloak he was wearing. Thing is though, there is something very weird about this, is the fact that he was standing BEHIND us, and is now standing in FRONT of us. "But… how did…" I begin to ask until I notice he's looking at something in his inventory.

"Very nice." He answers. No longer is the stutter and hesitation he had before and now is a more… collected voice. "This is good." He swipes his inventory closed and pulls out his dagger. "I want to go ahead and say thanks for helping me get this treasure." As he talks though without turning around, my own confusion begins to melt away to realization, as well as the growing fury beginning to mount on Jesto next to me. "As a token of my thanks," Clance pulls out a small pick in his free hand. "Allow me to leave you with a parting gift."

*Fwish*

Before I can even react, if it weren't for the system registering it, I wouldn't have seen the small little throwing pick fly inches from my face behind me. Clance turned around to throw it, giving me a full view of his face now. Gone is the timid player I saw before, now is… something else from the wide chesire smile he has on his face. _'He's fast… really fast.'_ Jesto is now mad. Angry, very angry at the turn of events and at Clance for stealing our prize, but his voice and loud spouts of threats are muted to me as I slowly turn around. It doesn't take me long to find the trajectory as to where his pick went.

He didn't miss. It wasn't meant for me. _'Red.'_ That's the color Kirito had warned me about. Clance struck the red fruit hanging off one of the **[Little Nepenthes]** and the effect is already taking hold. The odor its emitting has already taken hold on the enemies around, as more of the same creature begin to rustle through the trees.

I turn back to Clance to and see he's not even fazed by the monsters closing in. "B-but… why?" I ask in disbelief. Jesto has finally noticed the monsters and has readied his spear.

Clance though, just continues smiling. "Why? Well, this… it's just more fun this way." One of the plant monsters begins to make his up from behind him as he gives us a small wave. "Tah-tah." Just as the monster slashes one of its vines straight at him, he activates his **[Dash]** and has moved. I can barely see the afterimage of him as he moves along the edge of the clearing, dodging more of the vines aiming to him before he ends up behind us and has gone through the trees.

"That little punk! I swear I'm going to kill him and take that weapon from his corpse if it's the last thing I do!" Jesto yells loudly in anger and grips his spear tighter.

"He betrayed us…" I mutter in disbelief, and how easily it was.

"No kidding Captain Obvious!" Jesto says to me in spite. "Now get it together!"

"He betrayed us…" I repeat as I slowly reach down for my sword.

"Will you shut up and help me already!" Jesto shouts angrily as he tries to block a vine swiping at him. He manages to before running his spear into the closest plant monster before pushing off it, dealing some damage but its still kicking. "Vendicar!"

"He betrayed us…" This time the word comes out in a growl as I stand up, sword held and ready to cleave my way into the enemy. One of the plant monsters comes right up to me and sends one of its vines straight at me. "And he will REGRET IT!" To punctuate my anger, I bring my sword where the vine is coming at me. Not only does the offending limb get cut clean off before it can strike me but my sword also cleaves its way half way through the **[** **Little Nepenthes]** body. It barely has time to let out a wail of pain before I rip my sword out and it explodes into pixels.

"Well its about time!" Jesto declares somewhat happily at my attack before he ducks under another attack and finishes off the monster he was attacking before. "C'mon! Let's hurry up and finish these guys so we can catch up to that little bastard." He growls angrily and reorients.

"He will not get away with this!" I grunt loudly in anger before I move up to two more monsters moving in. Both of them move to attack me but I bring my sword up and block the brunt of their attacks. When I do I let loose my **[Cyclone]** sword skill and tear the monsters heavily. They are just barely alive when I come out of it and am forced to take a couple hits from them before I finish them off. Thankfully I'm a fairly high level in comparison for this place so their attacks don't do enough damage for me to worry. With them gone, I turn around to see Jesto finishing off a monster after he ran his spear through it but another moves up behind him. "Jesto!" I shout his name and move myself into position. With my sword poised and aimed, I launch my **[L** **ightning Thrust]** straight at the flanking monster. In a flash I move through the clearing and embed my sword into the monster. It lets out a squeal as it thrashes about, teeth gnashing as I tries to dislodge me from it. I keep my sword planted into it as I watch its health drain down when it refocuses itself and tries to now attack me to dislodge my weapon from it, I take the chance to push myself away from it. "Switch!"

"Hraaa!" Jesto grunts loudly as rushes past me and stabs his spear straight into the monster. It lets out one final wail of pain before its health drains down to zero and it disappears. He steps back from where the monster just was and quickly looks around for anymore. "Is that it? That all of them?" He asks while still tightly gripping his spear.

"It looks like it… for now." I answer grimly and take a healing crystal to top off my health.

"Good. Now lets get out of here already so we can catch that little bastard." He angrily demands and begins to walk out of the clearing but my hand on his shoulder stops him. "What?! Get off me! What are you doing?!" He angrily asks as he tries to shake my hand off him but it stays there. He's staring at me angrily as I slowly let go of him and grip my sword with both hands tightly. He stares at what I'm staring at it and looks.

"I don't think we're going to catch up to him." I mutter lowly and worriedly as while the plant monsters are gone, the rest of the monsters of the forest begin to converge on us. Slowly, they begin to move out of the tree line to stalk up to us. Some of them I recognize as **[Dire Wolfs]** but others begin to emerge as well, even **[Roaring Wolfs]**. But dozens upon dozens of monsters of varying type come up to us and I don't bother naming all of them as I can't stop myself from shaking. _'Any one of these monsters we can kill easily, but this many all at once…'_

"Great. This is just great." Jesto doesn't share my worried state as he simply just groans at the amount of enemies we now have to face instead of just going after the traitor that left us here to die. "At this rate we'll lose him for sure." He's not really focused on the idea of us dying here, but he's very confident instead of just wanting to go after our former teammate.

' _I wish I had that confidence right now.'_ I can't help but think as my hands continue to shake as I hold my sword up. "W-we're going to die here." Now its my turn to stutter as I stare at the monsters ready to rip us apart.

"You can go ahead and die if you want." Jesto mutters behind me. "But I've got unfinished business with that bastard that stranded us here. And I will not be killed here because of him!" With a shout of anger mixed with bravery, he charges the closest enemy to him with a sword skill and kills them.

I glance backwards to him as he attacks but that is a mistake on my part. As soon as I took my eyes off my own enemies, one of them lunges at me. As I'm turning back to the front, I barely have time to pull up my sword to defend myself from the pair of jaws coming at me. I grunt loudly as the wolf throws itself onto me as a few of its teeth latch onto my shoulder. My health moves a little from the attack but not nearly as much as it would have if its entire jaw had latched onto my shoulder. I push the beast off me and swing my sword at it while it tries to get back up. It dies easily enough from the hit but I don't have time to rest. Something with a lot of legs jumps up and wraps itself around me from behind. I'm startled from the sudden hug from behind and I throw my arms out, my strength overpowering the monsters and forcing it to let go. When I turn around I see that the monster that attacked me was a spider-type monster that's like a black widow except it has horns on its head and much larger and deadlier fangs.

Fangs that are coated in a green liquid. It doesn't take a genius to know what that is but I don't have time to think as it launches itself right at me again. I step-dodge to the side, out of the way of its attack but I swing my sword into its path, making it land onto my weapon and die. Yet again, I don't have time to compose myself as I let out a loud grunt as something slashes me on my back. I step forward from the hit before turning around and swinging my sword at the same time, cleaving the wolf in two. Looking around, I barely manage to lean back and dodge a bee-like monster as I tries to impale me with its pronged stinger, instead it only cut me a little on the flyby. As it comes back around and gets ready to try to strike me again, I notice another getting ready to try to hit me and a couple more wolves getting ready to jump me again. This time though they all opt to attack me at once so I wait for the right opportunity. _'Wait… wait… wait…'_

They charge me. _'NOW!'_ With a loud heaving yell to accompany my thought, my **[Cyclone]** skill activates and I whirl around as soon as the enemy gets close enough. In a twisting swipe my sword rips through all the enemy that was attacking me, making them all die and disappear into virtual polygons. Breathing heavily I stand back to my full height as the cooldown takes effect while I examine our situation. _'Theirs still a lot of enemies. I only took down a small number of them. And more might still be in the woods waiting to attack as soon as the first ones in the clearing are gone.'_ I quickly take a healing potion to bring my health back out of the yellow. _'But if we keep at it like this maybe, just maybe we can get though this. We just have to-'_

"Aaaaaaahhhhh!" My eyes widen at the scream. I turn around and watch a horrifying sight. A pack of **[Dire Wolves]** surround Jesto with his screams being the result of one large one having latched onto him and tore itself away from him, red polygons flying through the air as the fake blood spews from his shoulder. At the same time, with his name on my HUD a red blood drop symbol has appeared and his health slowly drops, after the attack he sustained. _'He's bleeding!'_ I surmise right quickly from the attack. Alongside it, a poisoned symbol is there as I notice red circles on his body as well.

"Jes- Aarh!" I yell loudly as a pair of jaws stabs into my shoulder from behind. My anger flares up immensely and I let out a cry as I knock the wolf, imparting the bleeding on me as well before I chop it dead. Another yell comes from Jesto as he takes down a couple wolves but a spider monster shoots webbing at him, impairing and slowing his movement. "Noooo! Get away from him!" I cry out and charge his group, sword swinging all the while in fury.

* * *

"*Panting* C'mon Jesto! We're almost there! I can see it!" I shout through panted breaths. My partner is barely able to move as I'm forced to be the one to carry him. His right arm is slung around my shoulder as I desperately hobble with him back to the safety of the town. Health is barely in the yellow while Jesto's is much worse off; low in the yellow and is slowly dropping from a mixture of bleeding and poison. "We're almost there man! I can see it in the distance! We just have to get there and your ailments will disappear! Just stay with me!" I desperately move as fast as I can. _'So many… there were so many of them. We couldn't… keep them away.'_ The **[** **Roaring Wolfs]** were some of the worst too because once they lose half their health they howl and summon more to fight. We weren't able to take them all down either. We needed to run as soon as we ran out of healing items, but we didn't escape unscathed.

"Ughhhh." With a loud groan, all the support that Jesto barely gave me with his staggered moves is completely gone as he collapses, taking with him.

"Oof!" I grunt as I slam onto the ground. My eyes widen as I push myself onto my hands and knees and crawl over to my facedown teammate. "No… Nonononono nooo!" I say over and over again as try to shake him back to his feet. "C'mon! C'mon you idiot get up now! I can't carry you fast enough back to the safe zone! On your feet NOW!" I yell and desperately try to get him up. The bleeding ailment has dissipated from him but the poison is still in effect on him, which both slowly lowers his health and adds a small paralysis effect, limiting his movements. "Get up already!" I try to shake him once more before giving up. "Ahhh screw it! I'll god damn try!" I grab him by the shoulders and begin to pull as much as I can, inching him towards the safe zone that's still so far away. "You said you weren't going to die back there and I'm going to make sure you—" What I'm going to say is interrupted as one of his hands clamps on my arm, making me stop and look at him. He weakly holds my arm before slowly pushing himself up and onto his back, and just lays there. "…don't?" I finish saying in a confused manner at what he's doing.

"Ahhhhh… don't… bother…" He mutters quietly and tiredly. 'We both know… I'm done for." He states.

"No no, we can't just give up. We can't…" I trail off as I sit next to him and begin going through my inventory. Before this whole quest, it was stocked with healing items ready to use for when we are injured. "Theirs… theirs no-… I've got nothing. I've got to have… at least one… just one. Enough to get you to the safe zone. Just one!" Now its bare as I frantically go through my inventory, scrolling up and down repeatedly as I look for even one healing crystal or health potion. "I don't have… theirs…"

"Hey." Jesto says, snapping me from my searching to see him. He's just laying there on his back, staring up at the blue sky with a passive look on his face. "Thanks… for getting me out of there." Then… he smiles. "I did say I wasn't going to die in that forest."

"But… your still going to die." I point out, my voice beginning to break as I can't do anything to save the person in front of me.

"Heh… yeah… that sucks." He says with a quick chuckle.

"Do you… do you have… any… healing items? Did you… thoroughly check?" I say in hope, hope that he may have just missed even one.

Sadly, he slowly shakes his head no but doesn't let the small smile leave his face. "Nah. I got nothing. It's my fault too. I was always a bit more… confident than I would like now that I think about it. Didn't stock up on as much healing as I should have." He cranes his head a little, staring at me. "You practically threw your items to me. You kept me alive till this point." He takes my hand, much to my surprise, and squeezes it firmly. "Thanks."

I squeeze back but my shoulders slump as I am still depressed. "But I couldn't do more. I should have done more and you would be…" I can't even finish the sentence.

"You can't save everyone… and you can't save me. So do me a favor then?" I lean in, ready to hear what he's asking of me.

He looks me dead in the eyes, squeezes my hand roughly, his smile gone and anger replaces the look he had before. "Find that asshole who left us for dead… and make him pay." He venomously demands.

"I will." I answer without much hesitation. There is no way Clance is going to get away with what he did and I intend to find him.

"Hm." He smiles from my answer. "Good. Glad to hear. Here." He swipes his inventory open and inputs a few commands.

[Jesto would like to trade.]

 **[Accept] [Decline]**

I'm a little confused by what he wants to give me but I accept anyway. By the time he's done, one new item is placed in my inventory. "Yo-your ring?"

"It's a good ring. Got it for a quest reward and I think… I think it will work well for you."

I stare at the ring now in my hands, not equipped but just in my hands. It's a silverish-gray ring with the top part of the wolfs head that would lay against ones finger as you wear it. "Thank you." I thank him and close my hand over it before placing it back in my inventory.

"Hey…" He grabs my hand tightly and brings both our hands to his chest, making me lean in. "Win." He says with a smile.

*CRACK*

My heart freezes. My breath hitches as he's gone. His body shatters in millions of polygons… before they dissipate… and he's gone.

' _He's… gone. He's gone. He's gone.'_ The statement is repeated in my head several times. I continue to lay there, staring at where his body just was before only moments ago. I was so focused on what he was telling me that I didn't… I didn't notice just how much life he had left.

But he did. He knew. _'He's… gone.'_ The fact continues to repeat itself in my head, even as I slowly stand up and make my way to the safe zone.

* * *

My steps are slow and staggered, my health just barely in the yellow and anymore damage to me and I will hit the red. My hands lay against sides, my right hand gripping my sword as I let it drag behind me, leaving a line on the ground as it drags while my head is craned downwards towards the ground. I didn't know Jesto for longer than this stupid quest, but he was partner.

With Diavel, I saw him die right in front of me as well, but I didn't see him die like Kirito did. _'Is this how Kirito felt? When Diavel was right there in front of him, within arms reach and just… cracked into nothingness. Is this how he felt? What drove him to push forward and fight?'_ I didn't know Diavel so it didn't hit me as hard as I would have liked to see the guy die, and it was to a monster that he died, along with his own greed for the last attack bonus.

My steps stop several yards from the safe zone.

' _Jesto… he died to a person.'_

"Hey."

' _He didn't die to a pre-programmed monster that was for all intents and purposes meant to kill us.'_

"Hey buddy!"

' _Clance… Clance was a person. An honest to god person who INTENTIONALLY left us to die. He wanted us dead.'_

"Grrrrrrr!

"Hey buddy look out behind you!"

My lips purse tightly, my hands clench tightly as my eyes narrow. An indicator comes up because of the attack but I'm already moving. As I look up, I notice the same group of guys I saw before we left staring at me wide-eyed as I twist myself around to my left. My right arm brings my sword along with me, pulling through the air in front of me once I turn around completely. In an instant, three **[Dire Wolfs]** are attacking me, having followed me from the forest. My sword cuts through and destroys two of them but the third was out of my swords reach. Because of my attack method, my sword continues to my left without any means of me able to bring it back to attack.

But I know that.

My hand lets my sword go… and I outstretch my arms into a hug.

*Chomp*

I grit my teeth into a grunt as its jaws latch onto my shoulder. A quick glance to my health shows it falling into the red. As soon as it rips its teeth out, the bleed sets in and I will die.

I smile, and close my arms around it. The wolf lets out a yelp of surprise and unlatches itself from me, flailing around as it tries to scratch and bite me again but the hold I have on it prevents that. I just continue to smile at it as it vainly tries to end me. "Sorry boy, but your not going to get me today…" My arms begin to glow, readying my martial arts sword skill. "Or ever." The wolf straightens itself a little and readies to bite into my face. " **[** **Crush].** "

In a loud bone-crushing sound, my arms tighten around the wolfs body, making it jerk and spasm harshly from the crushing bear hug I give it. As soon as I do it, the wolf lays limply in my arms until I let go. Once I do, the monster breaks into polygons before it even hits the ground.

' _No… a monster did kill Jesto.'_

I stay standing there for a few more seconds in silence. At some point I hear voices behind me, maybe some murmurs, but its all white noise to me.

' _And his name is Clance.'_

I step to the side and grab my sword before sheathing it on my back. Once I have it back, I turn around and walk into the safe zone. Even with the threat of dying gone, that doesn't take away my angered state. My pressed tightened lips, teeth gritting behind them, slow methodical steps with a stare that would make many people avoid me, which it does as some people who saw me and are now stepping out of my way as I walk with a new purpose. No longer will I fight just to survive, nor just for my friends… but for the dead… for the voiceless…

' _And I will Avenge my partner.'_

* * *

 **Okay… wow… firstly I want to say everyone I am very very sorry for how long this took. I had a bit of a writers block when it comes to this story and my actual motivation for writing this story took a massive hit and I just felt… inadequate in thinking I could make this into a good story for you all. Basically after thinking a bit more on it, doing a bit more research than I originally had, as well as a few words of encouragement from some people, thanks again, I decided to just say screw it and get to work on this again.**

 **Honestly, after having this chapter on the backlog for so long it feels good to finally be done with it and actually have it done and out. Although to be honest its maybe a bit less completed than I would have liked, maybe would have expanded on the fight a bit more, but I had this chapter incomplete for so long I just couldn't hold it up any longer and just wanted it out already. All in all I'd say the chapter is fairly decent, but not the best if I'm being honest with myself. I probably could do a little bit better but I just want to get this out and not waste anymore time in trying to figure out how.**

 **Anyway, here are the review replie. Sorry its been awhile for me to reply to this one. Sorry Spades so I'm going to copy the reply in bold and reply in the non-bolded text.**

 **Spades231: Cool second chapter. Sorry it took me so long to get around to it but just like you I also had finals, projects, and graduation fall upon me. But that's not important right now, what's important is how good this chapter came out. Also please don't be afraid to put out shorter chapter where Vendicar grinds levels as while it may seem like filler it while greatly deviate from the main show where time skips were. Everywhere.  
Having interactive moments spread through the story in bite sized chunks instead of full chapter/episodes dedicated to adding to the harem will go a long way in improving SAO in any regard.  
Also Vendicar X Liz for sure.  
Quick question, will Vendicar start his own guild? Or just joking the K.O.B?  
If he did start a guild what would it be called!?  
Alright well thanks for the cool chapter. Have an awesome day/night, and I'll cya in the next one.**

Thank you very much for your words and how you liked the chapter. I may try to make chapters shorter to get them out quicker but that never really was my forte, making short chapters. Always liked to get large ones out, at least over 5k words but I may do what I can to chunk them down or find good splitting points to get them out earlier, as well as do what I can to deviate from the main series to make things interesting.

For him starting a guild, or joining one, I don't think so. The idea of him starting a guild just never really occurred to me. Like Kirito, he's a solo player as well but he will team up with people if necessary, and preferably would like to with the people he's known a bit more. If he did start a guild, it would probably be called something similar to a certain other organization one of my more popular stories has in it, but he won't make a guild. Anyway, thank you for your words and I hope I continue to make the rest of this story good for you and everyone else who reads.

 **Okay but enough about me feeling sorry. In recent weeks I've been catching the new Sword Art Online season Alicization and I have to say it's a hell of way its developing that's for sure. I'm mostly following the dub that's been showing on Toonami so I may not be as far ahead as most other people are but I still like it nonetheless with how things are going.** **Already I have gotten some ideas on what to do for when my OC gets there, and hopefully if I can get my writing into gear I can eventually make it there. Still, a pretty interesting direction the show is going and I'm excited to see more of it.**

 **Anyway, I wanna say I'm sorry again for the very long delay for this chapter and I'll do what I can to hopefully not take so damn long again. Thank you for your support and hope I can make all of you still interested in this. Go ahead and fave, follow, review, whatever you wish, and most of all have fun reading, and have a great day.**


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